Derek Yorek, a dad from Fort Worth in Texas, sensationally led the prestigious Boston Marathon for five minutes last week, purely so his kids could see him on television. Yorek says that as soon as he registered to run the annual event, he hatched the audacious plan to thank his friends, family and supporters as well as impressing his daughters, aged two and five.
The former triathlete was fit enough to qualify to start near the elite runners and also to run a mile in 4 minutes 38 seconds in order to pass the leaders and hold pole position for a fraction of the race. However, even with his early burst, he was a good hour behind eventual champion Lelisa Desisa and would certainly never claim to have been a contender.
“That was horrible” were his exact words after falling over the line in 3:04:57, before adding “It was the hardest race of my life but I did it to myself, I wouldn’t change anything about it. It was an amazing experience.”
Having over-exerted himself so early, Yorek claimed that he struggled to finish but was inspired by seeing his proud mother and sister at the 14 mile mark.
Yorek may well have dropped from first to an eventual 3,572nd place in the race but his girls will certainly be proud of their dad and hopefully didn’t expect him to throw himself into a game of swingball in the back yard for a few days afterwards.Click to read the Bewildered Dad blog post entitled: The Things You Do for Your Kids, Eh?
Next time, he might consider popping on the X Factor if he wants to get on telly. It’s a lot less strenuous.
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