Father and daughter both take home 5K medals



Ari and Larry with their medals!

Ari and Larry get medals



CUTLINES:
1-2: The daughter-father tandem of Arianna and Larry Kessler show off their medals.
3: Larry Kessler crosses the finish line on the North Attleboro High School track.


OK, before you get too excited, it was only a local road race, the Tunes 'n Toons 5k: The eighth annual NAHS (North Attleboro High School Music Family Fun Run, to be specific.

Larry finishes the race
But it was the first time that this charity race for the town's school music program in grades K-12 was run in person since 2019 after both the 2020 and 2021 races had to be conducted virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. So it was real nice to be able to return to the North Attleboro streets and the high school track to kick off the spring running season on Sunday --- and it was even nicer to do it with my older daughter, Arianna, who was running her first race since completing her first marathon May 1 in Providence.
The day dawned cloudy, and then turned warm and muggy after the sun burst through, but it was another good day to be relaxed, and after more than two years of of feeling anxious all the time due to the constant flow of scary news about the pandemic, it was a good time to feel relaxed and enjoy the race.
Ari had decided to take it easy, but she still finished the race in 31 minutes, 56 seconds, good enough to claims second place in her age group (20-29). She was second of 13 runners in her age group, and 50th out of the 151 runners and walkers in the field.
Larry's fast days are well behind him, though my daughter said one spectator at the finish line shouted out, "Look at the old man run," as I was heading toward the line. But I did manage to gut out the race in a time of 46 minutes and 28 seconds, good for second out of eight in my age group and 105th out of the 151 entrants in the 5k --- kids' races earlier drew dozens of enthusiastic kids.
As far as Larry's medal goes, it's further proof that it's not how fast you are, but how many people in your age group show up!
Father and daughter were nonetheless quite happy to each leave with a medal. 

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