Running the Race for Life with your daughter

I've just booked myself and Jessie, my eight year old daughter, to do the 2011 Race for Life in Bristol.

We did the race together for the first time last year and I had no idea how Jessie was going to get on. I thought I could probably take it easy and gently trot around the course behind her. How wrong was I?

From the moment the race started she was off - darting in and out of the crowd leaving me and all her friends behind. It was difficult to keep up with her and I felt sure she would run out of steam very quickly.

Tiny as she is, she simply run through the gaps between various groups of ladies while I politely repeated "excuse me, excuse me" whilst attempting to squeeze past and keep up.

At first I was concerned that she was going to get knocked over by other runners and walkers as they wouldn't see her. As the race continued and I realised it was more a matter of keeping up with her - I cursed my alcohol consumption from the night before. When she did finally stop, it wasn't because she was out of breath but because her feet were hurting. After a little rest, a sip of water and a mini water fight, her mate caught up with us and we all finished together.

I can't explain how proud I felt about my little girl. I just remember everyone cheering her on and fellow runners praising her and smiling. It was a great day for everyone - well everyone perhaps except her sister who had an attack of hayfever. Jessie did so well last year that we thought we would do it this time for charity.

Jessie is particularly tiny for her age and she continually complains about being small and light. Yet being small obviously has some advantages like being a mean runner!! The race also gave her confidence a massive boost.

I wonder how we will get on this year? Certainly more enjoyable than my Longleat 10k that I did last week. That was tough. The hardest 10k yet.