Boy, 9, Takes Wrong Turn During Five-Kilometre Race, Accidentally Wins 10km Run

A young kid who got lost during a five-kilometre race ended up winning a 10km competition instead.

Keen runner Kade Lovell was competing alongside adults when he lost his way in the race last month in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

What was supposed to be a 3.1-mile race doubled in distance when the little LAD took a wrong turn and completed a 6.2-mile run, leaving the rest of the pack in his wake.

Speaking to the St. Cloud Times about his incredible feat, the nine-year-old said: "As soon as I saw the 5K turn, a lady told me to keep going straight. So I kept going straight. I was a little confused."

CBS Minnesota

He then told CBS Minnesota: "At the end where you had to turn around there's a 10K sign, I was like, 'This is not a 5K'.

"Once I turned around I was like, my mom is going to yell at me."

When he failed to cross the correct finish line, Kade's mum Heather Lovell started to worry. But she didn't know he was actually smashing a much longer one.

"I was like, 'OK, I should be seeing him by now, but I don't'," she told CBS.

"I have to run up to the finish line and I'm freaking out, I'm crying. 'My son is nowhere to be found! We have to go find him'."

CBS Minnesota

She told the St. Cloud Times: "I had everyone looking for him, even a fireman. I was like, 'You need to go find my son'."

Kade, who is running mad and trains three times a week, crossed the finish line in the 10km race with a time of just over 48 minutes.

If you're still not impressed, the average age of his competitors in the top nine was 38 years old.

But winning is something that seems to come naturally to Kade, who won his first one-kilometre race when he was only 18 months old.

Talking about the pride she felt at hearing her little boy had taken first position in the much tougher race, Heather said it was 'emotional'.

CBS Minnesota

She added: "I go from freaking out, to mad, to excited, to happy for him. It was like an emotional roller coaster in a 10 minute span.

"When he finished, I was like, 'You are in so much trouble'.

"He actually probably did better than he normally does because he was trying to finish and in panic mode."

With his latest victory done and dusted, Kade has now set his sights on competing in the Junior Olympics races this winter.

Topics: SPORT, Interesting, Race, US News

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

@SmithersDom