Mom thought 9-year-old vanished — but he was winning a Minnesota 10K, organizers say

A St. Cloud, Minnesota, mother began to worry after she couldn’t locate her 9-year-old son at the end of a 5k race.

But Kade Lovell wasn’t missing as his mother feared: It seemed winning a 10k this month was in his plans instead.

“I had everyone looking for him, even a fireman,” Heather Lovell told the St. Cloud Times. “I was like, ‘You need to go find my son.’ “I was bawling. This had never happened before.”

Heather told the outlet she became worried after seeing multiple kids cross the finish line, but not Kade. She then drove the length of the route, but there was still no sign of him.

After having multiple people search for Kade, Heather’s brother-in-law received an encouraging call notifying them of a “little kid who was running really well” in the 10K (6.21-mile) race,” WKYC reported.

According to Kade, a woman told him to “keep running,” so he did.

When the race concluded, race organizers told Heather Lovell that Kade finished in first place -- not in his age group, but the entire race.

“He actually probably did better than he normally does because he was trying to finish and in panic mode,” Lovell told the St. Cloud Times.

Kade finished his race in just over 48 minutes, according to WKYC.

As the word spread about his accomplishment, Kade is looking forward to going viral, Lovell wrote on Facebook.

“We are so proud of this little guy! This is something he can share for a lifetime,” she said.

This story was originally published September 30, 2019 at 9:47 PM with the headline "Mom thought 9-year-old vanished — but he was winning a Minnesota 10K, organizers say."