Hardware scandal and a new career

Yesterday we drove almost an hour for a fun run with Spiderman. Neither SuperDad nor myself participated in the 5k or even 2 mile fitness walk, just the kids run and then home. When we got there, Superman decided that he would run along with Hot Wheels. At not yet three years old, he was youngest in the race by quite a bit, although he's almost as tall as some 4-year olds so I don't think anyone guessed how young he was. We heard that the course was an out and back around some cones so before the start we walked with the boys down to the cones and told them they had to run all the way to that point before they could turn around. They lined up with the other kids and we were very surprised that Superman didn't want either of us to come with him, he was going to do it by himself, just like his big brother. They started out and Superman faded quickly, along with another boy. SuperDad was farther down the course than I was just in case one of the boys fell or needed guidance. Well, we tried to get that race course part correct, but when the first two kids rounded the cones and started coming back, Superman turned around, too. He didn't hear SuperDad trying to tell him to turn around again and run to the cones. He picked up some speed and since I was carrying Cutie in the carrier, I couldn't run out to grab him so when he crossed the finish line it looked like he was in second place. I didn't want to leave Hot Wheels on the course without cheering and getting his picture so I didn't get over to the finish line for a couple minutes and that's when I realized they didn't know that Superman hadn't done the whole course and that he was supposed to get a medal. Apparently, Spiderman runs at a lot of events and he always comes in third so the top three finishers get medals while everyone else gets a ribbon. This part really confused Hot Wheels and he was asking how a super hero could get beaten by some little kids. We told him that Spiderman wants all the kids to do their best so he slows down a little and sometimes lets kids win. We also mentioned that Spiderman was really just someone in a costume, to which he replied "yeah, I knew that". (and yet he still asked how the kids beat a super hero) Anyway, by the time we got over to the finish and realized that Superman's pull tab was ripped because they thought he came in second, the fun run was over and the race director was over at the 5k start. I felt really bad that the kid that came in fourth should have gotten a medal and not Superman but almost all the kids were already gone. I found the race director after the 5k start went off and explained the mistake and apologized that I didn't stop him before the finish. She started laughing and said I should relax because it's a FUN run, and there's no harm done. She gave me Superman's pull tab and told me to go get his medal since we weren't staying for the awards. So, we came home with hardware. At first I told the boys it was a special medal because they were the only brothers in the race but then we realized that wasn't a good idea, so we told them it was a mistake that Superman won the award because he didn't really run the whole way. Apparently they couldn't care less WHY they have the medal, they just like wearing it around. It was a fun morning although Hot Wheels was disappointed that he came in towards the back. I think he crossed the line seventh out of eight and there were two Rosie Ruiz imitators ahead of him, too, since Superman's not the only one that turned around early. He asked quite a few times yesterday whether we were proud of him for running his race and we assured him we were very proud, although I was a little worried about how important it seemed for him to hear that repeatedly.

Two new runners in the family. Registrations could start getting expensive, but at least we'll always have t-shirts to wear. I'm just thrilled they think this is fun.