Wrong turn put 5K boy on 10K course, he became a 1st place finisher
Kade Lovell, of Sartell, Minnesota, entered and began a 5K race. But a wrong turn put him along the 10K race’s course … and he ended up a first place finisher.
The two races were going simultaneously. He beat the next 10K runner by more than a minute.
“A lady told me to keep going straight. So I kept going straight. … I accidentally won it, and they’ve been practicing for a long time. I just was really surprised I did that,” Kade said.
From KSL.com:
“I was a little confused, but I was like, ‘OK, I’m just going to listen to her. I’m just going to listen.'” … He only realized what had happened when he saw a 10K (6.2-mile) sign at the turnaround area and noticed that the runners around him were all adults.
“I said in my mind, ‘I’m just going to keep running. I want to get to the finish line,'” he said.
Heather, Kade’s mother, grew worried at the finish line. When Kade didn’t cross at the expected time, she went looking for him.
Heather told the SC Times: “I thought maybe he is having a bad race. It happens. No big deal. Then these other kids coming running by. I was like, ‘He should be in front of them.’ Then I thought maybe he’s hurt. Maybe he got lost. Maybe worse could happen; who knows.”
She enlisted other people’s help, and then set out herself to find her son. “I had everyone looking for him, even a fireman. I was like, ‘You need to go find my son.'”
Race organizers informed her that Kade crossed the finish line, completing the 10K course.
You might like: River Bank Run 2019: the young runners!
“I told him, ‘You are in so much trouble. I can’t believe you did this!’ He said, ‘I didn’t do it on purpose.’ I said, ‘Oh you didn’t? Oh now I feel bad,'” his mother recalled.
Although he’s only nine, Kade began running at a very early age. He started cross country at six, and completed Junior Olympics.
There more on this cool story at Inside Edition: “9-Year-Old Signs Up for 5K Race … and Wins First Place in the 10K Race”
