12k of Christmas Race Report

We really love events with kids' 1k races.  The 12k of Christmas was an excellent fit for our family.  Unfortunately none of the courses were stroller legal, so Christian ran the 12k and the oldest three were registered for the 1k.  The day of the race was supposed to have tons of rain, but it was just drizzling so we headed down to Discovery Green undaunted.  We parked in a hotel parking garage, which gave us a nice skywalk to the race start and lovely restrooms.  I know I sound like I'm obsessed with bathrooms, but if you have four kids you tend to prioritize clean bathroom availability.

There were tons of runners in holiday costumes and you could take your picture with Santa!  Since I'm not putting the kids up on this blog, here's the cropped version.

Even in the rain the kids had a great time playing on the playground.  Christian ran the race with a broken shoelace that refused his attempts at mid-race repair.  Despite the shoe issue, Christian finished in 1:02:29.  The race medal was very festive and the finisher shirt was a regular cotton long-sleeve shirt.

The kids' 1k was scheduled for 10:00.  I always prefer races like the Sugar Land Turkey Trot that have the kids' race before the main race.  It's so short that even the last finishers are done quickly and then the kids don't have to wait around after the adult race.  For some reason there was confusion about the start balloon being deflated and the kids' race starting at the finish, but lightning quickly rendered that moot. Since we were standing at the finish, the kids asked for their medals in the pouring rain and a volunteer handed them to us.  

The kids were real troopers about walking back to the parking garage in the rain.  Despite the weather and the cancelled kids' 1k, everyone had a great time.  We'll definitely be back next year, hoping for better weather!