My son's school does a running event each year as a fundraiser for the PTO, so that the kids don't have to go door to door selling candy/magazines/christmas trees, etc....They have a 5K and 2 mile race, as well as a 1 mile fun run. My son and I have done the 5K race the last couple of years. 2 years ago (when he was 8 yrs old) we ran together and finished in about 33 min. Last year I had been battling injuries and not running so my son finished in 29 min and I was about 37 min. This year, I was debating whether to even do the race because I only started running again about 2 weeks prior to the race, but in the end I decided to do it. I finished in 35 min and my son improved on him time once again, finishing in 27:44. He was the first grade school age finisher.
The course is a cross country course, with rolling hills and a uneven surfaces, which made it a bit trickier. Also, there was a huge thunderstorm about an hour before the race (I thought they were going to call off the race) that created muddy surfaces and standing pools of water that you had to jump over in a few spots.
Thankfully the rain stopped falling long enough for us to get the race in, and then is started raining again. It was a fun event. The high school cross country team always does it together and they usually beat everyone else. I was a little disappointed that they didn't have participant medals this year, as they have in the past. Instead they gave out rubber bracelets. I also thought they should have age group awards, which they didn't.
I have been running about 4-5 days a week for the last couple weeks, and so far my lower legs/feet feel okay. I hope to continue running with hopes of shedding a few pounds and doing some more races in the future.