The Cauley Triplets: Our first 5K

This past Saturday was the River Run - a 15K (9.3 mile) race through Jacksonville that I have done every year since I've lived here. It is a big tradition here. This year, Cecil had to work on the day of the race so I was on my own. Strollers are not allowed in the 15K (not that I could push a triple stroller for 15K anyway) so I could not do it with the kids. But there was a 5K (3.1 miles) that did allow strollers. So we got up early Saturday morning and headed down to the race. The kids did great in the race. They were very happy to see new sights and hang out. I brought sippy cups of water for them so they could hydrate at the water stations too :) The downside of doing the race is that it was impossible to get any pictures of us running. But we must have been quite a sight because we got lots and lots of comments. Most people were saying "You go mom!", "Way to go" "You go girl" or just "Oh my God!" But I heard one person as we walked around before the race say "She's my hero" That really touched me. I know he was saying it in an offhand way, but I don't think anyone has ever called me a hero before. Then I stopped and thought about what we must look like - 3 one year olds in a 4 foot wide stroller with some crazy lady running behind them.

It was actually not too bad running with the stroller. It is pretty big and unweildy and we almost took out a couple of walkers, but we were able to run the whole thing. And it was great having so many people cheer us on as we went along. The kids never fussed or cried - they just sat there and were perfectly content. After our race, we went back to the van to wait while April ran the 15K. Thankfully the kids actually fell asleep for about an hour and got a good nap in. Then it was back up for the Diaper Dash. This was a 25 yard "race" for kids. We were in the 13-18 month race. I gave the kids some snacks to carbo load before the race and hydrated them with water. It was hilarious. Again, the problem with doing this without your husband is that you cannot get any good pictures. April had Ella and I had Helen and Alex. Ella took off pretty quickly and made it to the finish line. Helen was plodding along pretty well but she was holding my hand as was Alex and Alex was not motivated to move. He was too busy staring around at all the other cute little girl racers. Helen and I were dragging him along. But we all finished and the kids got finisher t-shirts and medals. The picture above is of me with the kids after the race with their medals on.