Mat and Jamie Holt family

Who'd have ever thunk that I would have a family full of amazing runners? Since running certainly isn't one of my passions I could never have guessed we would be entering so many races. If you had even asked me last year at this time I would have been doubtful. It all started last year when Bailey began 6th grade. She had run the mile in elementary school and ran with a time similar to what I would run it in when I was in school. The first time she ran it in 6th grade however, she was 5 minutes quicker than her previous times! Of course the gears started turning. I quickly realized she had her dad's running abilities and her mom's competitive spirit. A GREAT combination if you as me! We entered Bailey in the Swiss Days 5K and she did quite well. Of course then her school had their annual "geckathon" and we encouraged her to give it a try. Both times taking a solid 2nd place. At some point the boys asked if they could run as well. In January we entered Caleb in his first 5K and Easton in a one mile race along with Mat and Bailey. All of them did awesome with Bailey being the only one placing but still not taking first. After the January race Bailey mentioned she'd like to try a half marathon. I asked her if she LIKED to run or if she was running for her parents benefit. She said that she liked it and would like to continue to compete. We made a deal that day with all of the kids that if they ran one race each month for a year that they would receive a nice reward at the end. Easton decided after his first 5K that running wasn't for him and that was okay. I don't want it to be something I am forcing. Part of the deal is that the kids can't just show up and race. They need to actually train. We gave them each a race distance to work up to with Bailey's being a half marathon. All summer long Bailey has gotten up at 5:30 am to meet the cross country team at the high school at 6:00 to run. She has run mostly with the A group which runs the longest distances and she has been happier and started to get really fast. Up to this point the only race she had taken first in was the Dogtown 9K and it wasn't a great race for her she just happened to be the only one in her division. She seems to always take second. Caleb always seems to walk away with medals and does well in his division so we really wanted to see Bailey do well for her half. Caleb ran the 5K in Bryce Canyon while Mat and Bailey were coming down the course of the half. Caleb didn't run his personal best but he still took a first for his division. After Bailey crossed the finish line we anxiously waited for the postings to see what she placed. Every thirty minutes new times were posted so when we saw hers we were bummed. Yes, she had taken first but was the only one in the 12-14 year division. I knew there were 11 year olds on the course and I couldn't believe she was the only one her age running. Surely there were 14 year olds that had ran?

We of course waited for the awards anyway. Caleb deserved his first and Bailey did too even if she didn't have anyone in her division. Both kids ran with awesome times! Caleb couldn't wait to run up and receive his medal. Bailey was a tad more reluctant.

When they finally called out Bailey's name they also called out a second and third place in her division! We were so excited! I went and looked again at the times. There were actually 7 kids total in her division and were all 14 years old except Bailey. We didn't see their times the first time because she was more than thirty minutes ahead of the second place winner! She took her first WELL DESERVED FIRST!

I am truly amazed at the runners in my little family! They rarely complain about running and seem to really enjoy it. It is merely icing on the cake that they are GOOD at it!

We couldn't get a room in Bryce Canyon because we had decided too late to run it so we hitched up the camper and camped in a campground for our first time.

It was definitely not the typical camping trip. Not only were the campsites pricier than I would have thought but we were so close to the rest of the campers. It was nice to have the pool to cool off in.