Nicholas Vandenberg planned to run the 5K with his dad, but won the 10K after taking a wrong turn.
TRENTON -- Nicholas Vandenberg was not much of a runner before November's Trenton Double Cross Half Marathon event.
Most of the 8-year-old's running came from soccer and a few one-mile fun runs.
Nicholas's father John Hatch signed himself and his son up for the 5K portion of Double Cross event thinking they could have some father and son exercise together.
Nicholas, though, soon left his dad in the dust and was gone. After a wrong turn, he accidentally ran the 10K race and won his age group - runners under 14.
And he finished a startling 37th overall out of over 1,000 runners.
At his Trenton home recently, Vandenberg took it all in stride: "I felt great," he said. "I even stopped a few times to tie my shoes."
Nicholas Vandenberg holding his first-place medal and wearing the 10K medal a runner gave him. Hatch said his son was a little nervous about the 5K length. "I was a little nervous about it because I don't run that much. I kept telling him 'take your time.' "
Within minutes, Nicholas was quickly outpacing Hatch and other runners on the 5K course.
"He was getting further and further away from me until I completely lost sight of him," Hatch said.
The 5K course begins the same as the 10K course but 10K runners start about a half hour before the 5K runners. Runners have a chip on their registration number that tracks their times so no one is necessarily racing neck and neck with each other, Hatch explained.
After about 10 minutes on the course, Nicholas said he began to realize he was way ahead of his dad. He didn't start worrying until he hit a bridge - crossing the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.
His mother showed him a map before the race and the 5K path. "I didn't remember my mom telling me I was going to cross a bridge," Nicholas said.
Nicholas said he saw his mom Lucy Vandenberg cheering him on while he was still still on the Jersey side, just before running onto the Trenton Makes Bridge.
5K runners are supposed to make a left turn before the bridge, and 10K runners cross.
"There were a lot of people and one guy kept trying to get in front of me so I got kind of confused," Nicholas said.
So he plowed ahead.
Nicholas said he tried asking adults around him where the finish line was and was met with snarky responses like, "At the finish line."
Back in Trenton, Nicholas said he realized he was almost near his home and almost turned off and ran home, but then some encouraging runners said "you're about one mile away, keep going."
Meanwhile, Hatch finished the 5K and was "completely freaking out" back at the finish line at Arm & Hammer Park at the Trenton waterfront.
Luckily, Hatch said a friend of the family was at the race with a bicycle and found Nicholas nearing the end of the 10K course and also encouraged him to keep running.
"So then he came back and told me and I was so happy and so relieved," Hatch said.
Nicholas crossed the finish line with a time of 50 minutes, 48 seconds.
"I was very proud of not only that he ran the 10K but how he asked runners around him for help and that he found me right after," Hatch said. "He was very responsible."
Hatch also placed third in the 5K for men ages 50 to 54.
Nicholas said he was nervous at first to confront his father at the ballpark, thinking he would be angry with him for slipping away, but he ended up receiving dozens of congratulations from family, friends and the runners he encountered on the course.
One runner - who Nicholas had asked for help from while on the course - even traded his 10K medal at the end of the race for Nicholas's 5K medal.
"That was very sweet of him," Hatch said.
Hatch said race organizers originally gave Nicholas a 5K medal because from information transmitted by the chip he was wearing.
Hatch said a few days later, Hatch emailed organizers and told him what happened. After tracking Nicholas's time, organizers sent him the first place medal in the mail.
Nicholas, a third grader at the Newtown Friends School in Bucks County, Pa., has a lot of future plans.
"I want to be a motorcycle rider, a motor cross rider, run in the (Summer) Olympics, play soccer in the World Cup, be a NASCAR driver, but first be a rock star," Nicholas proudly claimed.
He also said he plans to retire as a mailman at the age of 85, because he's good at "delivering messages at home."
Lindsay Rittenhouse may be reached at lrittenhouse@njadvancemedia.com. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
