Limberlost #2: the snag

**see part 1 here**

March.

it was nearing the end.

training was going well.

the boy was still positive he wanted to run Limberlost.

so i sat down one afternoon to register him and i.

my husband didn't know yet which race he'd be running.

I registered myself for The 2017 Limberlost Challenge 14km...

I went to register the boy...

'You need to be 12 to register for this event.'

i stared at the screen on my computer and felt my gut drop.

12?

i had checked everywhere on the site for a minimum age.

i hadn't seen one.

but i might have missed it.

with all the info that a site like that needs i may have missed it.

my boy looked at my computer screen and asked what that meant.

i had to tell him that he is too young.

you see my boy is 9.

He will be 10 in August, but that's still too young.

i did actually see tears in his eyes.

i understand age limits,

that's why i looked.

it's quite a distance for someone of his age to run,

and it's a safety and health concern if they have a course full of kids thinking they can run 14km,

and not being able to run it.

i understand completely.

but i told him i would just ask and see if there was a possibility.

i wrote to the coordinator and told him our situation.

i asked if there was any chance he could register,
but i completely understood if he couldn't.

rules are there for a reason.

i then went to talk to the boy.

i told him to keep training.

we'd hear back and no matter what..

if he could race, great.

if he couldn't, we'd go run the trail anyway at a different day.

he was good with that.

so we waited.

he continued to train with his dad.

not crazy distances yet.

his longest is currently 4km on a road.

he was quite tired, but i ran it the next day and was worse off than him.

we have a one km trail we
(i say we, but is was the boy and his dad)
made out back.

when they first made it last summer i referred to it as:
 the whole 14km Limberlost hills compacted into 1km.

it's tough.

quite steep and quite technical.

i find it exhausting.

and the snow and ice on it doesn't make it any easier.

it is a great training trail.

i received an email in response

the email was copied to the men who would make the final decision for the boy.
and there was an apology for not finding the age requirement,
as the website had just been revamped..
it did look amazing by the way.

but, we waited.

My excitement for his dream, and my race partner, was dwindling.

my fears that we were pushing him, were growing.

that he would not be able to do it and would be discouraged.

he is only 9.

should i have encouraged him?

i love watching him run, he is so happy to be doing it... but could he run 14km?

i know that trail...

the uphills drain the soul out of you...

ok, not really, but i wanted to make you know how i really feel about them.

i don't like waiting, 

but i did like that if he wasn't allowed to run it, it was from others, not me.

and if he was allowed, i'd sign him up.

i spent a lot of prayer about him and his dream ever since his training has begun.

i want him to be able to push past the frustration, and discouragement, and even some pain that comes with training for a long distance, without pushing his 9 year old body too far.

my husband and i had agreed to wait for the decision.
if it was yes, we'd sign him up, 

and encourage him.

but for now...

2km trail run time.

...to be continued