Unbelievably cool running experience

My 5th grade student, Timmy, asked me run a race with him. He asked in some frigid month and the race was in May. I recall thinking: "This is months away. Sounds good. Let's do it." So, I signed up. Timmy is 10. Timmy wanted to run the Solider Field 10 miler. Little did I know this would end up being one of the absolute coolest running experiences I've ever had. I thought maybe he'd be super slow or super fast and then super slow. I thought he may walk. He's 10 after all. WHAT 10 YEAR OLD RUNS 10 MILES??

The answer: THIS KID. 

We met at the start line, in corral 13. Timmy was also running with his Dad, Mike. We waited, an electric storm passed just to the north, the anxiety crept into my hands, where I always feel it the most. I wasn't exactly ready for 10 miles. I was supposed to run 6 that morning and 10 seemed far. 

Timmy, Mike, and I stayed together for the first mile, then, Mike veered off to wait in line for the restroom. Timmy and I continued for the next 5 or so on our own.

This kid is amazing. Our pace was around 10:30 most of those early miles and at mile 6 I asked how he was feeling. He said he "great" and it didn't appear he had even broken a sweat. People saw us and commented, "Wow, way to go kid!", "You're going to by an Olympian, kid." It was like running with a celebrity. Timmy commented on how comfortable and similar our paces were. He said we should run more races together and I said absolutely. I did tell him he would need to stop growing up though. He was going to get better and better, and probably dramatically faster. I, on the other hand, would most likely not be a drastically different runner in a year. 

He would check in with me. "How are you feeling, Ms. Perry?" What a cool kid.

We listened to our music and at times I thought he was talking to me and then I realized he was singing along to his favorite songs.

We saw a guy head for the trees and Timmy asked where he was going. I had to explain nature called. 

Mike caught up with us and we finished strong, Timmy sprinting the final 50 yards on Solider Field. This was the first time he had ever run 10 miles in his life. 

I have been told this was nice of me, to run with one of my students. I think it's the other way around though. I think it was nice of Timmy to invite me to run with him. Most kids shutter at the thought of seeing teachers outside of the building. Timmy knew I was a runner and wanted to run with me. How cool is that?! It was a true honor to see a kid so brilliantly complete a distance I didn't run until I was 28 years old. 

He is one of those people I look up to because of his joy for running. I have those moments sometimes, but often they are few and far between. Timmy and I just ran, for the fun of it, and it wasn't easy for him or me. We both had moments of pain and discomfort, but that's often the most joyous part ....  fighting until you cross the finish line. 

One more thing. Timmy was the youngest person to run this race. He was the ONLY 10 year old. So, I did run with a celebrity. Wow. 

The running ROCK STAR, Timmy, with me and his Dad.