Several years ago I wrote about how I had taken up jogging and planned to run a 5K a few months later. Ever since I put my goal in print, I found myself scrambling for excuses whenever people ask me how my 5K went. But the real reason I hadn’t done it was that I was waiting till I was able to run the entire race without stopping and wanted the thrill of running across the finish line.

So when my husband called me recently to ask if our family wanted to run a 5K together the next day, I hesitated. I knew the race would involve more walking than running for me but I couldn’t say no to my kids who were begging me to run with them.

But the next morning I found myself spending 3.1 miles worth of my time trying to convince my tired 10-year old daughter to finish the race in freezing temperatures. I honestly think my mouth got more of a workout from trying to bribe her to run than my legs did from actually running.

 But when I saw the cheering crowd at the finish line, I realized that I could still have my Chariots of Fire Moment. As I sprinted ahead of Laurel, I heard her crying, “Mommy, Don’t Leave me.” I let out a big sigh and I turned around to grab her hand.  As we walked hand-in-hand across the finish line, I decided that the big smile on my daughter’s face was more rewarding than a cheering crowd.