10 year old assaults 45 year old man in CovingtonJim Behning thought it would be just another pleasant Saturday in Covington. Little did he know what the Lindner clan had in mind. Weeks before Kari Lindner ask for escort for her 10 year old at the Covington Fuzz Run charity 5k road race as she had a previous adventure triathlon scheduled. Shey, the boys' father was going to watch one of the boys but he needed another set of eyes. Jim volunteered that he was able to run 2 miles in 11:15 30 years and 30 pounds ago. Piece of cake he thought. As the date got closer Jim's anxiety increased. Shey reminded Jim that as an escort you have to watch the kids at all times. They can sneak away at the blink of an eye. Shey was referring to comments Jim made like "I never changed a diaper in my life." Well there was no diaper changing for this task so Jim thought he was up to the challenge.
Jim started his run training a bit late. A ¼ mile one night, ½ mile the next night working his way to 3 miles. That plan went out the door after a 72 mile road bike road one Sunday and a mountain bike ride the next day. A sore knee cancelled that last week of training. That 72 mile road bike ride was supposed to be a 50-60 mile ride but who counts miles when you try to organize group rides.
Jim woke up early on Saturday with butterflies in his stomach. He was quite nervous about the lack of run training. Jim started to panic as he could not find the Lindners. He was walking all about the starting area looking for the missing Lindners. The Lindners wandered in to the starting area about 15 minutes before the start. Shey dismissed Jim's anxiety. The Lindner boys had their usual calm poker faces about. Janson with his happy go lucky look, Everett with his race face on. He got that race from his father who is quite the intense cyclocross and mountain bike racer.
As the runners gathered to race, that cool 65 degree morning had burned off to a sunny 80. The Lindner runners headed as far to the front as possible without getting in the way of the hard core runners. Shey pointed out the mailbox hazards 10 feet in front of us but partly obscured by other runners looking for a good starting race position. The siren wailed as the race started. The Lindner three took off at pretty good clip. Jim was doing all he could to hang on. As the race progressed Everett clopped along in front setting the pace. Yes he clopped like a Clydesdale. Eventually he smoothed out his gait as he and his father slowly pulled away from Jim and Janson. Jim wanted to quit but remembering his commitment to the parents tried his best to keep up with the 10 year old Janson. The first mile passed by quickly in about 7 minutes. The next mile continued at what appeared to be a pretty fast pace also. Some runners passed us while we passed others. In an oxygen deprived state Jim did not recall what the second mile split was.
At about the 2.5 mile mark and attractive 15 year old girl was walking in the distance. Jim swore he saw Janson surge forward at the sight. The girl started running again and the race was on. She was not strong enough to keep the pace ahead of Janson as he ran passed her. Later Janson denied noticing any girls on the course or any increased tempo around girls. That bit of imaginary surging during the race caused Jim to wonder if there was any walking in our future. It was not to be. We raced past the Square on Floyd Street we made the downhill turn on to Hendrick Street. What goes down must come up and up came the Conyers Street turn heading back to the finish line. Jim had enough energy left to know that the end was near. How near was not known but he suspected it was no more than a few blocks. Jim did not remember much about the finish except that his ward finished in front of him. Janson finished 199 and Jim finished 201.. Someone snuck in between us but Jim did not feel like fighting to maintain position. 26:30 time for Janson.
When we met up with Shey and Everett we discovered that they had finished in the 90's. Pretty impressive finish for all as there was a record 2550 racers. Not all raced the 5k race but a large number did. Excitement grew as Janson had a solid 5th place on the race board. Everett also has a playful side. He was eying the inflatable slide with great want to go and play. He denied wanting to play on the slide but his brother was a bit more truthful. He was ready to play. Unfortunately none of the adults had the energy to climb up the slide.
As we feasted on pizza and bananas after the race, we waited for official race results. Door prizes were being handed out. Jim's number was called out for a $20 gift certificate. Jim was so out of it that some lady in the crowd told him that he had won something. They only awarded prizes for the top three runners in each category. Janson's solid 5th place finish held but no trophy.
You asked where the assault was. Jim felt a bit sore that afternoon. The next day he woke up ready to go to the mountain bike race. His legs felt as if someone had beaten the shins, the quads, the calves and the arches with a baseball bat. He felt he had no legs to race but he went to watch his "friends" race hoping that his legs would feel better close to race time. Jim chatted with Kari about his pain. Of course she had no sympathy as she did a paddle, mountain bike, run race the day before. Those kids have 2 tough competitive parents. Jim saw Everett racing through the woods once again with his race face on. Janson was just a few seconds behind him at that point with a big smile on his face as Jim cheered him on. Was that a sinister smile on Janson's face?
Everett 948, Janson 949, Shey 951, Jim behind Janson. Photo page 1 Covington News Sept 11, 2005.
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