Landon Ferguson, 2017
I got into running because my Uncle Beau (Stuart Lange) inspired me to run. When I was four years old, he ran in the “Rut” at Big Sky. My family and I went to see him run and I said to my mom, “I want to run in races.” Some of my first races were the “Santa Run” and the “Run to the Pub.” I ran in other 5K races this year and did the “Run to the Pub” again with my mom, my brother, my Auntie Kelly, and my gramps. I won a trip to run in Ireland. At first I thought it was my mom’s number but it was mine! My mom kept saying it was my number and I was so EXCITED. My Aunt Kelly said, “What five year old wins a trip to race in Ireland?” Non (my grandma) didn’t run because she was sick but when my gramps called her she kept saying, “No way…really? Are you kidding? How exciting,” and my gramps kept saying, “He really did win!”
The trip wasn’t until August so we kept running and getting ready for the race in Ireland. It was in Dublin. We flew to Ireland with my mom, my brother Lucas, my gramps, my non, my Lego toys, and my toy fire engine “Help Crew” went with me.
The Friday before the race we picked up our registration and raced on Sunday. We went to the park the day before and toured the zoo. It was a pretty fun park. On the day of the race the people started cheering for me. Some of the people stood along the race route and cheered for me. There were a lot of people racing and some had already done two other races that morning. They cheered for me. My mom and gramps ran with me, my brother, and Non (my grandma) followed behind us. Lucas is only three and doesn’t run as fast as me. The people saw my “Run to the Pub” shirt and hat and asked me questions. A man from a newspaper took my picture and asked me about Bozeman and our race. He thought it was great that a little kid could win.
At the end of the race I got a medal, a banana, a Powerade drink, and Jelly Beans. I told my brother, Lucas, that if he would throw them outside our door—the beans would grow into beanstalks. I was just kidding. My mom doesn’t let us eat a lot of Jelly Beans but sometimes she does—today she did. This was the best race EVER!