My amazing, smart, talented, athletic, funny, favorite son ran the Ogden Marathon on Saturday. He was on a relay team with some other great kids from our neighborhood. Their relay team was named the PURPLE NINJA PENGUINS. They had homemade PNP team t-shirts way funny! I hope that it was a really memorable experience for him, and I think it has inspired him to take up running on a more serious level.
Jake is an awesome athlete, and I am always impressed with his drive and abilities. He ran it in a little over 39 minutes. That is a 6.5 minute mile. Totally Awesome! His leg of the relay was 6.1 miles long, most of which was uphill. He came across his finish line with a look of determination and then a huge smile.
After he had rested for a minute we drove him down the canyon to the finish line where he ran back about 2 miles along the last leg to run with his teammate and cheer her on. What a kid! He is probably going to grow up to be a motivational speaker. He just has this way of encouraging others to be the best they can be. I am so proud of him.
Jake also received his Boy Scout Denali Award Last week. The Denali is a fairly new award given to a Varsity scout. It is basically the next rank advancement available after the Eagle Scout. He has worked hard and stayed active in scouts. Jake strives for excellence in all that he does.
He loves getting medals and awards. We teased him this winter because every time he won a wrestling tournament he would wear his medal around his neck under his shirts for days. So, on Sunday when he was getting ready to leave for a youth activity he had on his marathon shirt and his medal underneath. Kenzie and I teased him about it, and then McKenzie said. "Dude... don't hide it under your shirt, if you are gonna wear that thing WEAR IT PROUD!"
I think that says it all. Congrats Bud!
