1mile cross country race

We went to a race held by the BYU cross country team, and got a fun surprise. Emmie found out she loves to run and won! She ran the one mile course in 8:44! She ran against other first grade girls, and basically ran the race by herself following the cross country runners who led the way. She ran it a lot like her Aunt Amy used to race-take the lead in the beginning and just keep it the whole time. I kept wondering if she was going to tire out and walk, and to my surprise, she just kept going. This was Kaylee's 3rd time running it, and by this time, I am not sure she loved it so much. She did a great job and finished in 9:13, but said she didn't want to do any more. I am proud of her for doing so well though. These pictures are a bit out of order, but you will catch the drift. This is all the cousins that ran the race. They all finished and did so well!

This pic is of Kaylee about 2/3 of the way done-she says she would rather dance or play tennis. I am glad she at least did it and did well and gave it her best! Way to go Jo! 9:13 is actually a great time for not liking to run!

In this picture, she is getting her blue ribbon. She was so proud of herself!
Finishing...she sprinted all the way from about 100 meters to go and finished with high fives from all the cross country team. So cute.
"Mom, I thought to myself, I know I am tired but I just have to keep going! And I did...and I won!!
In this pic, look past the guy in orange and you can see Jaynee. This is where she was when she realized she wanted to run the race too! So she jumped on the other side of the cones and didn't care that she was smaller than everyone else by A LONG WAY, and that she started way behind them. She was just so happy to be running!
And here she comes! After a whole mile, she ran it all the way into the finish! She totally surprised me and a lot of other people sitting in the stands and cheering her on!
The starting line had about 50 little first grade girls. Emmie was so excited!
This is at about the 150 meter mark, just after climbing a hill. I saw her take off and hoped she wasn't going to try and win in the first bit of the race and then tire out and have to walk.
Jaynee decided she was going to run also. She jumped in right before the first hill (about 100 meters into the race) and NEVER STOPPED! She RAN the whole way with a HUGE smile on her little face! She was in last until the very end when she passed some little girls who were walking. I couldn't believe her!
This was with about 350 meters to go. I knew she was having fun because in the background, they were playing her and Jaynee's favorite song "Oh it's Magic" and it gave them both big smiles.