Parkrun: I can see him!
While I was away at the MAD Blog Awards a couple of weeks ago, a strange thing happened. My husband managed to persuade our two big boys to get out of bed early on a Saturday morning to do Parkrun!
A week later and we let my younger son off after a very tiring week of school, but we dragged my eldest out of bed again for a family Parkrun.
It was my turn to run with my daughter. My turn to put up with her moaning that her legs hurt/ she felt sick/ her time wasn’t good enough for the entire second lap.
She’d got her PB down to 31 minutes and was hoping to knock it down further. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t confident. She always runs her best times with my husband as he nags motivates her. I’m too soft on her and let her ease up when she moans that she feels sick. But her aim was 30 minutes. We decided to run with her best friend’s brother, who is two years younger and an awesome runner like her friend, and their dad – who is a very good motivator.
But my daughter also had her brother in her sights. He was about a minute ahead for most of the run and we were running at a better pace than usual – finishing the first lap in 10 and a half minutes.
Suddenly, having her brother in her sights wasn’t good enough.
‘I can see him!’ she yelled and she took off, leaving her friend’s brother and dad behind.
She was absolutely determined to catch her brother. Despite the fact that he was a minute ahead and is five years older and a lot bigger than her. She was running way too fast. Or so I thought. She was out of breath, but she didn’t moan that her legs hurt or she felt sick. She just kept closing the gap.
The second lap disappeared in no time. She didn’t moan once. She caught her brother, we had a quick chat, and then it was clear he was actually running too slowly for us. So my daughter carried on at her incredible pace. The third lap disappeared in no time too.
She was on for her PB.
She was on for 30 minutes.
She smashed it.
She finished in 29 minutes and 31 seconds. She’d knocked two minutes off her personal best (and without Daddy nagging her!) and a full 10 minutes off her time when she first started Parkrun this summer.
It’s remarkable what a competitive girl can achieve when she’s motivated by beating her big brother.
A huge well done to her. I think maybe taking your big boy every week might do brilliant things for her personal best 🙂
I think it would! She’s incredibly motivated by the urge to beat him! It made her a different person 🙂
Beating her big brother sounds like brilliant motivation to me and a big well done to your daughter for knocking two minutes of her PB and ten minutes off the time she started with – that’s very impressive.
Thanks, I’m really proud of her! I knew 39 minutes was way too slow, but wasn’t sure that she would be able to get below 30 minutes, but she’s proved me wrong! It’s incredible what a bit of sibling rivalry can do.
Wow what a fantastic achievement. It really is unbelievable what a bit of motivation/friendly competition will do. #loudnproud
It certainly is! She won’t let her brother beat her, even if he is five years older! Thanks very much.
She has a great competitive streak in her – brilliant motivation in chasing her OLDER brother! Well done! Sounds like she was determined! #CountryKids
Thanks very much, she certainly was!
Wow, sibling rivalry is obviously working wonders! Well done to your daughter what an amazing run time, and I’m sure she’ll continue to improve too.
Thanks very much, I’m sure she will! She doesn’t ever like to be beaten by her big brothers!
Love your daughter’s absolute determination to do her best – and then do even better! Felt like I was with you watching her speed ahead as I read your post.
Thanks very much! It’s a great quality to have, I think 🙂
I have a feeling she will be setting herself a new goal now, never one to accept what she has achieved as final. A huge achievement and clearly a brother just in sight is the answer to success! Thank you for sharing on Country Kids and I hope she continues to excel.
Thanks very much, you’re right, she has set herself new goals! She always wants to push herself to do that little bit better.
Great result she achieved. Shows how important sibling rivalry can be, and it’s about getting the right carrot to inspire and motivate.
Thanks very much, absolutely! Sibling rivalry can be very powerful indeed.
Your daughter is amazing, so much drive, even if there was a little bit of help by her brother being there. I couldn’t even run for a minute, let alone 30!
Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
x
Oh how lovely that he helped her.
She’s always been so competitive!