A visit from Child Protective Services was made to the home of the Kentucky couple who were criticized for allowing their 6-year-old son to participate in the Flying Pig Marathon in Cincinnati.
An official was seen interrogating Rainier “who adamantly determined that he wanted to run a marathon” by Ben and Kami Crawford of Bellevue, Washington, who shared the photo on Instagram.
Because neighborhood leaders believe that running with children is a bad idea, Child Protective Services showed up unannounced at their door on Friday.
“This needs to end.” was added.
Their children’s mental breakdowns aren’t caused by running, but rather by the “mob that has been weaponized by running’s most talented and celebrated individuals,” they stated in a statement.
There is no data or facts provided to support their claim that children running is abusive. The claims and position are untrue. The pair went on to say that “hundreds of witnesses, including officers of the law, and hours of video evidence corroborate.
When will you apologize and retract?” they added.
After allowing their 6-year-old son Rainier to participate in a marathon in Cincinnati, Ben and Kami Crawford claim they were visited by Child Protective Services.
Good Morning America verified that child services had visited the Crawfords, but District Attorney Steve Franzen of Campbell County in Kentucky stated no determination had been reached in the investigation.
In an Instagram video they shared on Saturday, the Crawfords responded to the criticism.
We were accused of “pulling Rainier, like physically dragging him over the marathon course after mile 13,” Ben added.
Our finish line image shows us all holding hands for the final.2 or.3 miles of the race.” That’s what we’re going to do, we talked about it in advance,” he remarked.
“I’m not sure if I should be enraged.” I prefer to believe that everyone is doing their best. Not to mention, they presumably have genuine concerns for our children’s well-being. There is also the question of how far one can go. Ben carried on speaking.
According to Kami, “we’re doing what we’re enthusiastic about,” she stated. “It would be a real shame to end all of that.”
When asked about the criticism they received after Rainier competed in the 26.2-mile run, the Crawfords said they’d been accused of “being reckless and even abusive.”
They wrote on May 3: “On May 1 our family of 8 completed an entire 26.2-mile marathon.” We’ve never raced a marathon as a family before. At mile 25, our five older children waited for over an hour, and we all crossed the finish line together after 8 hours and 35 minutes.””
“We have never forced any of our children to run a marathon and we cannot even conceive it as realistic practically or emotionally,” they stated. All of our children have the choice of participating in any of the races.
It was run by two kids last year instead of us… We finally gave in to our 6-year-pleadings old’s and allowed him to train with us this year. It was a 50/50 proposition, and if he asked it or if we regarded his safety at risk, we were prepared to pull the plug at any time,” they said.
Even after asking Rainier “many, many, many times,” the Crawfords reported that Rainier had made it obvious that his wish was to continue.
Apparently, “Campbell County CPS” was alerted, and the Crawfords responded by saying that they had been investigated for doing far crazier things and had been found to be safe parents for their children.
When the youngster’s parents shared an Instagram photo of their son holding Pringles snacks and explaining that the boy was “struggling physically” during the marathon, they received additional abuse.
The parents and race organizers were blasted by Olympic marathoner Lee Troop for permitting Rainier to participate in a marathon.
It was at this point that the child began to stop every three minutes for crying and emotional anguish. His parents are threatening to give him Pringles if he doesn’t finish his homework. Parents don’t see any problem with this. “This is just incorrect!” he exclaimed in a tweet.