a new start....

The other day I threw a question at my 7-year old! I asked her to list festivals in 'her' order of preference...her order went as follows:

- Diwali

- X'Mas

- Halloween

- Onam

- Holi (and she specified I haven't really experienced this as yet!)

Of course as a typical Indian, this list is not ideal but seeing the way she has been brought up and exposed to different cultures, this list is truly ideal. Anyway that's not what I am going to touch upon today..

A few months back, we (me and a few close friends) were casually scanning the list of marathons in Singapore (of course to see what we could run next), and our eyes fell on the 'Santa Run for Wishes'. Immediately, we thought why can't we the kids run this one! 2.2km for the 7-year old's and 5km for the 10-year old's! It seemed like the perfect fit.

10-year old's Anya and Eshaan who ran their 1st 5km

And then over the next few weeks, the kids had some fun times while training. Loop runs, early morning wake ups, weekend runs, pulling them out of play time on weekdays... sometimes it was even tough. But we felt that the kids were ready for this and it would be a thrilling experience for them.

The race day arrived, and we had made pairs (of parents) to run with the kids. Tonnes of parents and kids had landed up for the race. It turned out to be a 'wet evening' and probably that was the biggest joy! Our first run in the rain!

I don't think any of the kids realised how 'big' an achievement this was in itself. I ran my 1st marathon at 38 years and these kids at 7 years and 10 years...I probably had a bigger smile at the end of this race than at the completion of my 1st 5km marathon. Though the 7-year old's were far more excited about the carnival post the race. 

7-year old's Zoya (left) and Anaika (right)

I personally believe that finishing any race is far more important than how well you do. I ran my worst in my first race and over time it has only got better.

As we enter the month of 'wishes', I hope this is the start of something new for all these kids. For some of them even their first medal! 

We of course celebrated this 'victory' as a family and I also wondered had I not been into my fitness regime, would my girl have still run this race?

And strangely, the christmas tree at our home is up a month in advance, just like our lights were up for Diwali a month before the festival. So my girl's preference of festivals may not be all that wrong!