Kade Lovell, 9, was confused when a volunteer told him to continue on the 10K race track.
A Minnesota mom was worried his son wouldn’t finish the 5K race, but the 9-year-old boy surprised everyone and instead came in first place in the 10K race.
“He has never run a 10K before. It has never been on our radar,” his mom Heather Boedigheimer-Lovell told InsideEdition.com. “I thought he was too young but he proved us wrong.”
It all started when 9-year-old Kade signed up to do the Francis Franny Flyer 5K in Sartell earlier this month. The 10K race happened simultaneously, and runners for both groups started together.
“He is active,” Boedigheimer-Lovell said. “He runs three days a week, does gymnastic one day a week for two hours, and then break dancing class once a week.”
When the two groups separated, Kade accidentally kept going straight when the rest of the 5K group made a turn.
“He thought it was a little weird and was confused but didn’t know for sure,” Boedigheimer-Lovell said.
He eventually figured out he was on the wrong course when he started seeing signs for the 10K but kept running since no one else seemed to be slowing down.
“He was running alone for the most part, so when we saw him, we thought he was dead last,” Boedigheimer-Lovell said.
However that wasn’t the case. In fact, the rest of the runners – including adults – were behind him.
He came in first place, completing the 10K in about 48 minutes, with the next fastest runner coming in a full minute behind.
“He said he was exhausted. I have never seen him so red after a race,” his mom said. “He was super confused, and excited to hear he won.”
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