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'My Mom Is Going To Yell At Me!': Kade Lovell, 9, Wins Sartell 10K Race By Accident

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 9-year-old St. Cloud boy has some bragging rights after he won a 10K race by accident.

Kade Lovell was supposed to run a 5K race in Sartell on Saturday, which is about 3.1 miles.

But he got caught in a much longer route and it ended up paying off in the end.

"When I start out running, I usually start out slow," said Kade.

He actually ran his first 1K race when he was just 18-months-old. So it should come as no surprise that the 9 year old has a strategy for every race he runs. But on Saturday, that strategy was left in the dust.

"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," said Kade.

Kade Lovell
Kade Lovell (credit: CBS)

While running the St. Francis Franny Flyer, Kade went the wrong way but ended up with the right result. Instead of turning onto the 5K route, he doubled his distance by mistakenly running straight ahead onto the 10K route -- which is 6.2 miles.

For Kade's mom, it was a different kind of race -- a race of emotion. It that took her from a normal start to a frantic finish. She was waiting for him to finish the 5K but he never showed, even as racers Kade normally finishes ahead of kept passing by.

"I was like, 'OK, I should be seeing him by now, but I don't,'" said Kade's mom, Heather Lovell. "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!'"

That's when she got word that people had spotted a boy on the 10K course, and he was doing really well. So well in fact, that at the finish line, Kade found out he got first -- not just in his age group, but first place overall.

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

Kade finished the 6.2 mile race in just over 48 minutes. The average age of the top 10 finishers was 38 years old.

But don't call it luck. Kade actually trains about three days a week, and he plans on competing in Junior Olympics races this winter.

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