2013 Autism Awareness 5K

Originally Holden wasn't going to do the Autism Awareness 5K as he had planned on doing the Elementary States wrestling tournament that morning. He decided about a week before the race that he wanted to race and not wrestle, so I signed him up. 

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE RACE!! He did a FANTASTIC job!!! He PRed his 5K time by 1 minute and did an amazing job assisting Mr. Mike Callan in pushing Ashton! Wow! He ran with a time of 25:54!! Woohoo!

Holden, Ashton and Mr Mike at the start!

Coming up on mile 1 marker

and unfortunately, I missed their finish! UGH! They ran so fast I couldn't get over to the finish line before they got there! LOL! :) 

BUT..... Holden placed 2nd in his age group!! (males 14 & under) ... way to go!!!

With his winner's medal! Way to go Holden!!!

2013 Shamrock 8K & Operation Smile Final Mile

Holden ran a fantastic race in both the Shamrock 8K and the Final Mile. As part of his Operation Smile Final Mile he ended up running a grand total of 102 miles ran and raised $1,025! Way to go little man!

Unfortunately, 4 days before the race, Holden ended up with the FLU of all things. He hasn't been sick enough to miss school since 2nd grade, and of all times, RIGHT BEFORE A RACE! Ugh! He ended up missing 3 days of school. Fortunately he was well "enough" to run come race morning. Although, he didn't want to race and kept complaining of stomach issues, etc. I think he was just nervous. Fortunately, a dear friend of ours, Dennis Welch, had said he'd run with and pace Holden, so we kind of talked Holden into it :) THANK YOU DENNIS!! I firmly believe if you hadn't ran with him, he would have bowed out of the race, and I know he didn't want to do that. 

Holden ran the 8Kwith a time of 45:39 ..... PRing last year's 8K time by nearly 6.5minutes, which is INCREDIBLE on any given day, but given how he was feeling before the race, was AMAZING! SO proud of him! He did an incredible job!

Holden and Dennis before the 8K at the starting line.
He doesn't look THAT nervous, does he?! :)

Holden and Dennis near the finish line - look! Matching form!

So then, it was time to get ready for the Final Mile .... yes, this boy ran a solid 6 miles total on this day, not counting all the walking around we did to get from the car to the start line to the finish line, etc etc! Holden ran this year's final mile in 8:24, which while it wasn't his fastest 1 mile time, was faster than his 2 previous years doing the FINAL mile. AMAZING KIDDO! Again, he wasn't feeling well, but had gotten a HUGE self-esteem boost from having just PRed his 8K time! He was in great spirits for the final mile, and here's a few more pics :)

ready for the final mile! handsome boy!

L to R: Ethan, Caleb and Holden .... 

nearing the finish line - way to go little man!!! 

With his Shamrock 8K and Final Mile finishers medals! HAPPY BOY!

So proud of him! Both for his efforts in fundraising (and surpassing his personal fundraising goal) and running miles (he ran 2 miles over his personal goal of 100 miles.... and would have likely hit 110+ miles had he not been sick the week of the race) and for sticking it out through non-ideal circumstances and doing an awesome job!! :) 

Gearing up for the Shamrock 8K!

Holden got a fantastic opportunity to run with Dennis Welch (a Hampton Roads Runner runner and a Team Hoyt runner) this past weekend. Dennis had said he'd run with Holden whenever we wanted, but coordinating schedules, etc has proven to be difficult since Holden is still actively involved in both wrestling and soccer as well as running. He got that opportunity this weekend at the Final Kick Sport 3rd annual Treasure Run, and what a blast it was! A fundraising event for Michael Davis' journey to the Boston Marathon.

Anyway, Dennis had made plans to run with Holden that morning. He asked me how far to take him, and I said about 4-5 miles. We want to get a good idea of what he can do the Shamrock 8K, so 5 miles it was. They came back and Holden had ran it in 43:25 - nearly 10 minutes faster than last year's time! AMAZING! Not to mention how stoked Holden was to run with Dennis.

It's a happy day when a kid gets to run with one of their role models and while Holden was exhausted right afterwards, he was fine physically. Having someone who KNOWS what they're doing when it comes to running, gave him that little bit of inspiration he needed to push himself a little bit further, probably further than he thought he could do.

Thanks again Dennis for running with him! Holden's looking forward to the next time and said he wants to run with the group, as long as someone doesn't mind slowing down for him! LOL! :)

I can't wait to see what this year's Shamrock race holds for Holden. His Dad is also running it this year, and Ashton (his brother) will celebrate his 1year anniversary with Team Hoyt at the Shamrock 8K as well as the Shamrock 1/2 marathon the following day. Not only is Holden running the 8K, he's running his final Operation Smile Final Mile race. He's currently raised $660 towards his $960 goal! Way to go little man! He's also at 87 miles ran towards his 100 mile goal! He's done a fantastic job with setting goals and attaining them this year! :) SO PROUD!

Our next posting will probably be an exhausted but excited recount of Holden's 8K and Final mile race in just under 2 weeks!

Stay tuned!

2013 VIFL Sweetheart 6K

Virginia Is For Lovers Sweetheart 6K

Second Race Of The Year

Time of 31:25 - 8:27/mile pace 

won 2nd place in males 10 & under age group!

Sunny, Boog and Holden pre-race

........ and they're OFF!

At the finish line, with a time of 31:25!!!

After the race with his finishers medal

Race Summary:
So this was Holden's first major race of 2013. He doesn't actually count the New Years Day run since it wasn't officially a 5K, rather a 1/2mile short. The VIFL Sweetheart 6K was also his first race ever of pushing a Team Hoyt VB rider, with someone else's help of course. As you can see from the image below, it was CHILLY! 36 degrees..... and it was WINDY! Lots of turns on the 6K course as well, about 7 judging from the course maps. Linda "Sunny" Fox was who he was running with, and they were pushing Boog, an amazing little 3-year-old boy! Sunny was figuring on doing an approximate 8:00/mile pace. Easy enough (but faster than any of Holden's race paces to date other than his 1 mile races; only his most recent 1 mile race was under 8:00/mile) and good thing Holden had been working on his 400 meter sprints, I REALLY think that's helping!

So...... Sunny and Holden came in with Boog at 31:25. (all we knew at the exact finish line was approx 29ish minutes because none of us were watching the clock). Not quite as fast as they wanted to do, but they did it DESPITE the wind! WOW!!

Even MORE amazing?! Sunny came in second place in the women's masters division and Holden came in second place in the boy's 10 and under division! Way to go you two!! :)

Holden is anxiously awaiting his award in the mail, as I'm sure every other winner from the race is. This is his first major race award and it's a second place one at that! AMAZING! :) I plan to take his shirt, finishers medal, bib, award, and the below graphic and do a shadow box for his bedroom. This is a MAJOR win for him and he's super stoked! Maybe it'll give him the encouragement he needs on those days he thinks "I can't do it." - and I can show him the shadow box and say "YES YOU CAN!"

Thanks for letting us share his most recent race with you! We'll post a picture of the award when it comes :)

Best Part of the Race ever?!  (besides coming in second in his age group (males 10 and under)
Being on the news TWICE!

The award came! That silver looking thing he's holding? it's a very cool (and heavy) coaster!! :)

2013 New Year's Day Total Fitness 5K

 First Race for 2013 - New Year's Day Total Fitness 5K
Ran with a time of 24:09
Later we found out, the race was about a half a mile short of a 5K :( Still a good time for the first race of the year!

First Place (1st) in males age group 19 & under....

Before the race .... it was COLD!
But thanks to the Leber family, he had a super
"cool" WARM running shirt! :)

Coming into the finish line - way to go little man!!!

Eating some after-race grub:
italian sausage, doritos, air heads and coca-cola to drink!

Race Summary:
It was a cold morning, and had been raining/drizzling all night and morning. We got to the Virginia Beach Sportsplex (we'd never been) and figured out where we needed to go. Holden was excited about this race since he was given the registration by some friends (thanks Mr Steve and Ms Lisa!) who had won a 5-pack of registrations. We got there, got his bib number and goody bag, I signed the waiver form (since he's under 18) and waited around for the race to start!

While it was chilly, it did finally stop drizzling and raining just in time for the race to start. This was a cross-country race course (something Holden hadn't ran on before) so we weren't sure how he would do. But, he did great and surprised us all by coming in at 24:09 - we then quickly realized that the course was nearly 1/2 mile short.... :( But still, 24:09 is a great time! AND coming in first in his age-group (males, 19 & under) is great! :)

Great race little man - I'm very proud of you and what a way to start off the year!

Finally got around to getting a picture of him
with his 1st place in age group award,
a Color Me Rad registration!