An Tribute to the Families
Paisley Brown and Bryar Jensen
The first test was a cold, pelting rain throughout the entire event. Wet heads went into wet helmets and water ran like a river out of little running shoes. The second test this group of athletes faced was a race director who had just one skill and not much else. Her only skill was a wholehearted desire to make sure children were included in what was being built. The origin story of the Platte River Fitness Series starts with a race for kids. Twenty-five years ago, it was called the “Tinker Triathlon,” an homage to my youngest son Cody who was eleven at the time. Cody had a pension for making up words and “tinker” in Cody-speak meant little or small. The Tinker Triathlon was the opening act for the inaugural James O’Rourke Memorial Triathlon, now known as the Tri-Nebraska Triathlon. And the O’Rourke Triathlon was the inaugural event in the Platte River Fitness Series. The first Jingle Bell Run, held the same year as the triathlon, also included something just for kids, the mile for kids fourteen and under.
Kids have always been integral to the Platte River Fitness Series. If we were going to affect the culture of our community, it made sense to include the kids. Families needed to get involved. Good health is a practice, a way of life, and kids learn how to do life in a family and in their community. As we honor one of our kids, Paisley Brown, as our October Athlete of the Month, I also wanted to express real gratitude to the many families who made physical activity a family value and the role of family in the Platte River Fitness Series. I love these families. Knowing them is a true privilege.
Even when it seems like the kids aren’t paying attention, they are watching and absorbing. When parents and grandparents make physical activity a priority, kids notice. Gym bags on the sofa, well-worn running shoes scattered on the floor, training plans posted on the fridge, and sinks and dishwashers full of water bottles leave evidence that in this house, we move. Kids learn the natural rhythms of an active life. Taking time out for a run or a walk or a swim gets normalized. In active families, kids learn the value of movement for movement’s sake and that fitness isn’t exclusive to any particular sport or age.
Kids from active families learn to use movement to manage emotions. When a parent heads out for a run after a tough day at work, their children learn the best way to handle something hard is to do something hard. Kids see close-up the ways that movement affects not just their bodies but also their brains. They learn positive ways to cope and an acceptance that challenge and difficult moments are part of the human experience. The hard stuff makes us better.
When a mom, or dad or both run alongside, kids learn the incredible power of shared experience. Hands down, the best moments for me and many others during any PRFS season are watching the parents support their kids as they swim, ride and stride their way to a medal and a chocolate milk at the now Tri-Nebraska Kids Triathlon. It is love and joy in motion. The kids will have learned two things; that their little bodies are capable of great effort and that in them, their parents find pure, unconditional delight. Everyone needs someone who not only loves them but delights in them as well.
The participation of our kids has certainly changed over twenty-five years. There were just a handful of kids in that first Tinker Triathlon and now, the field of mini-triathletes rivals that of the adults. Kids like Paul Jacobson moved to the adult triathlon when the tinker version no longer offered a challenge that could match the size of his heart. The numbers in the kids’ mile in most events started to shrink as the littlest runners grew bigger ambitions and started entering the 5K, as Paisley Brown did when she was three. We’ve even opened the mile to adults so that they too can have a starting place from which to grow. Sometimes, there are more adults in the mile than children. We split the 19 & under age-group into two, a reflection of the enormous growth in the participation of our kids. And depending on the sports season, those two age groups outnumber all the rest. It has been incredibly rewarding to see the growth of junior high and high school cross-country teams coincide with the growth of the PRFS.
Active families help kids learn to take the long view. Many kids also enjoy participating in a range of other sports and activities which are good for them. They get to sample all the different ways a body can move, the different qualities and character traits they need to develop for a wide range of endeavors, and the unique enjoyment each one provides. But, because parents and grandparents are out on the trail, they learn that fitness isn’t just for the season of youth sports, it is for every season of life. That, dear parents, is an incredible gift. They also learn that lesson in our PRFS fitness family. When they stand at the start or observe the finish of accomplished athletes in their sixties, seventies and eighties, they see proof that fitness doesn’t need to end at the final whistle of a final game played. We are athletes for life. Thank you to the elders of our fitness family for showing our kids what is possible.
As I remember twenty-five years and as we re-imagine the next season in the life of the PRFS, one thing I will forever treasure are the families moving through all of the seasons in a family together. There were and are so many athletes who show up as a family for themselves, their children and our community. Families like the Blakely’s, the Blomstedt’s, the Graff’s and the Heirigs’, who packed up the kids and themselves and made it to the start line on time. It is incredible to meet the children of the children of the early days of the PRFS. That is generational change. So many families, so many blessings.
It has also been a blessing to watch the kids as they expand their world to include friends who they meet on race day. The youngest kids often form immediate bonds with “new best friends” they find while their parents are finding goggles in the backpack or chasing them down to secure their race bib. Paisley Brown and Bryar Jensen are representative of the bond of friendship that is the hallmark of PRFS races. Little girls, both fierce competitors, who found each other and forged a friendship they will long remember. The girls don’t live in the same town, don’t go to the same school. It is race day that brings them together and fuels their friendship. We get to watch the expanding world that grows for them at every race. That too is a blessing.
Perhaps the legacy of active parents that matters most is the gift of paying attention. Kids learn to look for the simple joy of things. They learn to take sovereignty over any measure of success. A little faster than I’ve ever gone before, that’s their metric. One-percent better today than I was yesterday, that is success. In running, walking, or wogging, we are brought back to our purest form, the most elemental way that humans move their bodies through the world. There are no real rules, no complicated skills. Not even much in the way of equipment is needed. As Paisley advises in her bio, just a “good pair of shoes.” We put them on, and we go. We feel the sun warm us, the breeze cool us, hear the birds serenade us. Our bodies know what to do so our minds are free to go anywhere they want to go. It is a special kind of freedom. When we include our kids, we get to watch them learn to manage struggle, learn to persevere, learn how much trying matters and know that same kind of freedom all at the same time. Kids may learn from their parents and even from us as their fitness family elders, but they are also our teachers. From our children, and their gorgeous, gigantic smiles, from the grimaces on their faces as they discover what they are capable of, we grown-ups learn to remember to find the joy. That is the lesson of a lifetime…even when it rains.