Layton’s Running story
I went to a track meet to watch my son, Layton run.
It’s been a discouraging season for him because of some injuries. He hadn’t been able to train and compete at the highest level that he was used to, but he still did really good.
Luckily, he was doing a lot better and was able to PR the week before at his neat. I was excited to attend this. However, he told me that he was going to pace one of his friends for the mile race so he wasn’t going to PR.
When you’re pacing someone it just means that you go a specific speed the whole time so that you know what time you will end up at. So I went to the race, knowing that he wouldn’t go his fastest race, but didn’t realize who he was going to be pacing.
I was first confused when he was in the second heat. The second heat is for runners that are not quite as fast and he’s never in the second heat. So as the mom, I was really confused about why he was gonna be in that heat. Even though I realized that he was going to piece a friend I figured it was just one of his close friends that is usually just 10 to 20 seconds behind him.
But he lined up to race in the second meet, and as the race went on, I was more confused, but then understanding hit me. Layton had decided to pace one of the slowest kids on the team.
It was awe inspiring to watch him, look back and encourage this boy while he was racing. He paced and cheered him on the whole way.
The “you got this” “come on push push push”.
Layton slowed down to watch the boy cross the finish line. The smile on his face was unforgettable. He watched him finish and then once he crossed the finish line Layton sprinted and finished his race.
What was so cool about this is Layton was finally feeling healthy and strong and could have done really really well and got his own PR. He had had a rough season, but it was more important to him to help and encourage and lift someone else than to give himself the glory and PR for himself.
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