Seattle Kids Marathon

Matthew participated in Seattle's "Kids Marathon" this year. A regular marathon is 26.2 miles. To participate in the Kids Marathon, the kids run 25 miles between the start of the school year and the weekend after Thanksgiving. The regular Seattle Marathon held on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. They set up the last 1.2 miles of the course on Saturday, and the kids that have already finished their 25 miles get to run the last 1.2 miles of their marathon on the real course.

Matthew has really been into running since they started the school year. His school has a "running club" that sets up a 1/8 mile course in the parking lot for every recess, and he spends most of his recesses running. Between running at recesses and running with Jon several times in the evenings, Matthew ran over 35 miles before Thanksgiving and had more miles than anyone else in his kindergarten class.

On the day of the Kids Marathon, we showed up early and Matthew got his number.


The kids were able to have an adult run with them. Matthew wanted Julie to run with him and they each got the same number. Julie also helped him to warm up in the stadium.




Matthew's best friend from school also ran and, of the thousands of possible numbers, they ended up with numbers that were right next to each other.


There were so many kids running that we couldn't get a picture of Matthew as he crossed the finish line, but here he is at the finish line before the race.


Jon and Seth didn't participate, but it was fun for them to cheer Matthew on from the stands.


We're all so proud of Matthew for his tenacity to run so much and spend his recesses doing something that is healthy. We look forward to doing it again next year!