Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

Ultrarunning and Life’s Lessons

Daddy bought me a book – The Daring Book for Girls.

He was on a business trip or something. And he always brings me something cool. This time one of the things he brought me was this book.

Most of the stuff is too hard for me. But some of it we can practice already.

There was a chapter on how to run fast.

He showed me how stand and how to hold my arms and legs and how to get started.

We practice all the time.

Daddy says he can’t tell if I am doing things well or not because whenever I go by all he sees is a flash!

Pink flash. Rainbow flash. Blue flash. It’s always me.

He told me to pretend like the ground is hot when I run so my feet will keep lifting off the ground.

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

Flash!

But here’s another lesson he learned during his ultra-running days. Your strength will determine your speed.

I am pretty strong.

I can carry a bear. I can carry a wolf. I can carry a tiger. I can carry a castle. I can carry 8 princess figures at the same time! I think this is what he means.

If I want to be fast, I need to be strong first.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.