It would seem like we are raising a younger generation of fitness buffs and up and coming athletes from among children today, as a 12-year old accidentally ran a half-marathon and decided to finish it after realizing it should have been a shorter one.
Twelve year old LeeAdianez Rodriguez Espada was excited to start running after taking off late from home for the Wegmans Family 5K run in Rochester, New York with her mom at the wheel to drop her off at the starting line.
In an effort to make it in time for the starting shot, Lee- as she is fondly called- was told by her mom Brendalee to get off close to the starting line as she finds space to park their car. Without a moment’s hesitation, Lee rushed off to the starting line which she saw already started.
She was told to just take off with the rest of the runners and caught pace with the other runners.
As she darted past through the 4- mile line, she noticed she was missing any sight of the finish line or her mother and decided to ask one of the runners how much further they had to run.
It was when she was informed that she was in another event which is a 13.1-mile half marathon rather than the 5-mile run she was supposed to be joining and instead of stopping, decided to finish the race- almost three times the distance she was supposed to finish.
Authorities were initially concerned because they could not trace Lee’s whereabouts after her mom realized she was not at the finish line. Lee was later found by one of the responding policemen at the Flower City Half Marathon and although she thought her parents would be worried, continued to finish the race.
She was reunited with her teary-eyed mom after the race and Lee said she did not regret ending up in the wrong race as it gave her a new sense of pride.
Last month, Milla Bizzotto, a nine-year old third grader from Miami, Florida finished a gruelling 24-hour obstacle race designed by Navy SEALS to test physical and mental strength and endurance, often participated by many serious competitors, triathletes and fitness experts.
Milla joined the Battlefrog Xtreme last March 4 to 5, where she completed dozens of physically demanding obstacles and a 36-mile run – all the time having fun while doing it.
In fact, some of her classmates have already started joining her doing exercise activities at gym after school.
A lot of younger children have already started to get motivated to stay fit at an early age and hopefully encourage others to follow the lead.
Image Credit: Girl, 12, accidentally runs half marathon – CNN News
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