Talking to my wife before my son’s 2nd Cross Country race of the year on Friday afternoon, we wondered how he would do. Sure, he said he wanted to finish Top 5 in his first race, and yes, I DO think he can accomplish anything he wants, but with 110 kids running… We were thrilled when he finished in 4th place. Could he do it again? The bar had been raised, right near the top; not too much more to go…
The conditions this time around were a lot different. The first run was perfect running weather, or so I would think. It was in the 60s, overcast… there would be no overheating at least. Well, on this Friday, the temps would be in the 70s, and the sun would be blazing, adding another level of mystery to this week’s outcome. There turned out to be about the same number of kids with 112; it was time to go.
As the gun sounded, the runners were off, and so was my son, near the front of the pack. As I normally do, I walked towards the middle of the course to see how he was doing. This time, like last week, there was one kid way out in front… same kid. He’s not even a big kid, but he must just glide around the course. This time, unlike last week, there was only one kid in the “2nd pack”; it was my son’s classmate, who had finished 11th last week. I was happy to see someone from his school in that position; OK, where was my son? As the next pack came, there he was; I counted about 10th place at the time. Now, to walk towards the finish line…
I had to wait for the other runners to cross before I could cross back over the track to get to the finish line; unlike last week, this took forever. As I walked across, I saw the first place kid heading to the finish line; the 2nd place kid followed shortly after. Yes, my son’s classmate finished in 2nd place! OK, where is my son? The next 2 runners came down the homestretch, and there he was; yes! He had moved up 6 places in the 2nd half of the race, back to 4th place, but it wasn’t over yet. He turned on the boosters and blew by the 3rd place kid; yep… my son finished in 3rd place!!!
It was unbelievable, but not really I guess. It’s not like I expect my son to do great things, but… I expect him to do great things… and he does. I looked at my wife after the race, and told her… see, nothing to worry about… haha. Jumping over the bar felt like a good way to sum it up; what does he have in store for the 3rd and final race of the season? I can’t wait to find out. Run boy run!!!
Leave a Reply