Wearing The Coaching Hat

Four kids from the group I coach raced yesterday. One boy, the youngest who raced, finished last. He just doesn't seem to "get" racing. At 8, it's really no big deal, but I know his Mom and Dad want to see him having some success. So, it becomes a matter of trying to get him to look at racing as something to aspire to, and modifying his running style to make it a bit more efficient.
The other three kids ran the 3K race. Among them, my son was the first to finish. The two others, both girls, finished right after each other. The one who finished first raced worse than I expected, the one who finished second was in tears. I have a feeling that the one who raced worse than I expected was running with the other to support her. It's my job to try to tease out that piece of information, if that's, in fact, true. The tears of the one in back were due to a severe stitch.
My son raced pretty well, but in analyzing his race, thinks there were a few things he could have improved on.
Now, I have my job cut out for me. We'll have to see what happens.