Miah and Logan Bonds, who attend St. Bridget Elementary School, are offering moral support as their mother, Heather Bonds, and her sister, Lexi Brinker, prepare to tackle their first 5k run.
While Miah, 6, rides her bicycle, Logan, 9, runs every step of the way, often leaving the two future 5k competitors in his dust.
“He actually got far ahead of us,” Bonds said.
The two sisters, who both live in Pacific, have begun researching area 5k runs scheduled for the spring and summer. Thinking it’s possible to train for a 5k run in a few months, the sisters created a systematic training program.
“We did some reading on it,” Bonds said.
The pair started with ten-minute walks on the treadmill and on Jan. 7 graduated to a full one-mile run in the city park.
“We were surprised that we both completed the 10-minute treadmill walk the first time,” Bonds said. “Now it’s time to run a mile.”
Although Logan was unsure how many turns around the circle made a mile, he knew he could do it because he runs 12 times around the track painted on the St. Bridget Elementary School playground to reach a mile.
“I did get tired,” Logan said. “But I didn’t stop completely. I just slowed down to walk a little then ran again.”
He believes he completed the one mile in 10 minutes.
“Maybe less than 10 minutes,” he said.
At the beginning of the circle, Pacific’s resident marathon specialist City Administrator Harold Selby and his wife Becky stopped for a chat.
Discussing the runner’s high that frequent marathoners, like Selby, often experience, Bonds said mental energy is as much a motivation as good health in tackling the race.
“Mental energy is definitely what we’re looking for,” she said.
“I know what to do with my mental energy. I spend it,” Logan said as he sped off on his first run around the big track.
