In 2004 Skye Howie started a Mother’s Day tradition with her children. The mother of two completed her first Mother’s Day Classic and since then the trio has been crossing the finish line together.
Well not quite together now as both Jake and Ella leave mum in their wake. In fact, Jake has gone from completing his first MDC in a stroller, to taking second place in last years 0-14 age group.
“In my second year Jake was five months old, and Ella was three. It’s the only year she has missed, I wasn’t exactly sure how I would manage a stroller and a toddler. The following year he also was in a stroller, but with Ella being now 4 she was on it!”
In 2009 Jake was four and ready to run himself, and despite from deciding pre-race they would run together Ella got carried away by the moment and took off at speed. Skye then undertook that time honoured parental fun run tradition, the piggyback.
“As Jake and I ran towards the finish line there she was, with hands on hips yelling….what took you so long! I did not know whether to laugh or cry, at the same time Jake was receiving a huge round of applause for running.”
Each year as the children have grown older they have started to understand the deeper meaning of the Mother’s Day Classic.
“We spend time reading the tributes, which are a wonderful thing, it somehow makes you feel closer to people (that you do not know) that no longer have a mum,” Skye said.
“I lost my father to prostate cancer and he said to me Mother’s Day is about doing things that YOU enjoy, so go do the run, as that is what you enjoy! That was the first year Ella and I joined in and here we years later, still running and now telling our story.”
Both Ella and Jake are now finishing well ahead of their mum, but they wait patiently at the finish line and when mum arrives they head off for a coffee.
