Last night, I picked up Bubbles after I returned from kiteboarding. She had already eaten, so I dined on my Zoup! chicken pot pie soup while she ran from friends' house to friends' house trying to sell stuff for school. I think this time it's wrapping paper and the like. I got her to bed by 8:45 - right after I let her read the story and comments from Thursday's time trial. She was asleep in no time flat. This morning, we got up around 6:30 so we could make the journey to Carter Park in BG.
On the drive, Bubbles informed me that she needed a tissue. Of course, I had none. I tried to make her wait until we made it to the exit because I was planning on stopping for some fruit and Gatoraid/Poweraid any way. The sound of her snuffing the snot back up her nose was too much to handle and I ended up handing her a pair of sweats that I had in the truck from kiteboarding the day before. I need to go get those sweats out of the truck right now. Be right back.
There. Now, all I need to do is get them into the wash.
Actually, that was perfect timing. The mailman was standing on the porch with the package for MissMBH when I got up. Where was I? Oh... yes. We stopped at Speedway because they usually have fresh fruit in baskets right by the register. Or, at least they do at the Speedway closest to my house. The one in BG, however, does not. There was a Meijer on the other side of the expressway, so we backtracked and went to Meijer. There, we got some bananas and some Poweraid. Poweraid is on sale at Meijer for $0.59 by the way. Great price.
I was tempted to buy some socks, too. The grass at the park was sure to be wet and running in wet socks is never fun. I opted not to. I did buy extra bananas, though... in case someone else was hungry besides Bubbles.
We were the first to arrive at the park. A short time later, one of the Jr. boys showed up and stood around with Bubbles and me. Slowly, but surely, St. Pats parents and runners gathered around where we had chosen to wait. Then, Jim showed up with the tent. After the tent was pitched, we felt more comfortable. Once again, like at practice last week, bug spray was a hot commodity. I need to remember to get some for next week's practices so that I'm not borrowing from others any more.
The kids are always full of energy as they gather before a meet. I don't know where they get it from. They certainly don't have it in the car during the ride down. I suppose they feed off of each other. We let them have some fun to shake off the nerves. They dance. They spray their hair. They throw the ball/frisbee around. Our main job at this point is to make sure that nobody gets hurt and nothing gets out of hand.
When the Jrs start to race, we start to get the Cadettes ready. They do some stretches and some light exercises before we take them on a warm up run. The warm up run is an excuse to get them all over to the bathrooms and make sure that all that stuff is taken care of before they get to the starting box. It tends to work out pretty well. I don't think we've had anyone drop out of a race because they had to pee.
Since we had all the kids together, we decided to get them together for a team picture... or four. It's tough to get a good one when you're dealing with 20+ 4th, 5th and 6th graders.
For this meet, coach td didn't really give me much in the way of responsibility. I expect that to change, though. If it doesn't happen by his direction, I'll ask for it. I manned the finish line camera most of the morning. And, as it turns out, that came in handy. Coach td didn't push the right button on his digital voice recorder for the girls' run. As such, we didn't get the girls' times. The only one he remembered was Bubbles's time. I'll share that number with you a little later.
The meet starts with Jr. Girls, and then Jr. Boys. As soon as the boys are off the course, they get the Cadet Girls going. Bubbles started in the third row this time, due to her awesome time on Thursday. I stepped away from the helmet cam for a moment just after the girls team's started. I trusted the camera to another coach/parent that I had seen barking at kids that were up to no-good earlier. I knew he'd have no problem keeping people away from it.
I ran across the field and took this video with my regular camera (no sound)
I've emailed the rest of the YouTube videos to those who need to see them. I'd post them here, but I scream out the runners' names throughout the entire video.
I ran back to the finish line and got the camera all ready for recording the finish of the race. I really had no idea, before today, how many epic battles happen within the last 100 feet or so. These kids pour their hearts into that last little bit. Many of them are so wiped out by that point that they throw-up near the finish (or in line after the finish.)
It wasn't long before I was screaming out Bubbles's name as she approached the finish line at break-neck speed. She finished about 90 seconds behind the first runner. Now, I'm sure that doesn't mean much to you. Let me give you some more info to help you come to grips with where she finished. Last year, her best place was 109th. And, as I pointed out the other day, her best finish time was 9:02.
Today, her finish place (the more important of the two statistics,) was SEVENTY FIRST! Her time, a phenomenal 7:43! She finished 10th among the 18 girls on her team! Now, that's not a scoring position for her team because only the first 5 runners' scores count toward the overall team score but she did affect the outcome of the meet. How? Well, let me tell you...
The team that finished in 3rd place overall had one scoring runner that finished behind Bubbles in 73rd place.
The team that finished 5th place overall had one runner that finished behind Bubbles in 74th.
The team that finished 6th place overall had three runners that finished behind Bubbles in 85th, 113th, and 115th.
The team that finished 7th place overall had two runners that finished behind Bubbles in 93th, and 124th.
The team that finished 8th place overall had two runners that finished behind Bubbles in 72nd, and 83rd.
So, as you can see, the last three runners that Bubbles passed were scoring runners for other teams!
St Pats Cadet Girls finished in 2nd place with a score of 96. The team that won only beat them by 3 points! I'm willing to gamble that our girls will win at least one meet if we can all stay healthy and run clean races.
After Bubbles race was over, I stayed around and manned the camera for the Cadet Boys and the Pee Wee Girls and Boys. The little ones are so cute!
One of the funniest things I saw
all day was when the Pee Wee boys were finishing. I swear their attention span is about 2 seconds long. They'd be running along and all of a sudden, they'd stop running and instead walk in a zig-zag pattern or look for worms (or God only knows what). Then, without warning, they'd shove it back into gear and stomp on the accelerator for 30 feet before slowing to a walk again.
We didn't stick around for the Minors races, though we probably could have. I ended up taking Bubbles to meet her mom and grandma at Maumee high school where the football game was just wrapping up. Plus, there was no wind for me to go play in.
sopops Sun Sep 09 12:13:14 PM Great pics, great story!! Way to go Bubbles less than 8 mins, I could never run that fast. Reply
BizB Sun Sep 09 09:02:13 AM I made a mistake when typing that story. The girls finished in second place, not third.
I'm amazed, still today.
Some of the battles at the finish line are epic.
I could see a battle coming and I'd yell, "S/He's going to pass you!" or, "GO! You can pass her/him!" even if neither of the kids were from St. Pats. When I'd do so, you could see them kick it up a notch. Some would go to the next level all the way to the end. Others would really dig in for 10-15 feet and then both runners would realize that they were not going to gain/lose a position. Still others would make the pass and gain a spot. I'm sure those passes that are made in the finish line funnel are among the sweetest of the race for the runners.
The St. Pats Cadet Girl at about 5:00 of that video is a classic example of how I could get a runner to pick it up a notch even though there was nobody behind her. You can see her really dig in the last few frames before she goes off screen. Then, when you see the pair of runners round the tree at 5:18, you know that's going to be a battle all the way to the finish line.
Next time, I'm going to set up the camera behind the finish line so you can see the results of those last 20 feet of battle.
One of our Cadet boys passed about 6 runners in the last 100 feet of the race. It was amazing to watch. Of course, I'm going to have to give him a hard time on Monday because he had way too much gas left at the end of the race and he should have spent more of it on the course. By the end of the season, he'll be placing higher. I guarantee it. Reply
Actually, that was perfect timing. The mailman was standing on the porch with the package for MissMBH when I got up. Where was I? Oh... yes. We stopped at Speedway because they usually have fresh fruit in baskets right by the register. Or, at least they do at the Speedway closest to my house. The one in BG, however, does not. There was a Meijer on the other side of the expressway, so we backtracked and went to Meijer. There, we got some bananas and some Poweraid. Poweraid is on sale at Meijer for $0.59 by the way. Great price.
I was tempted to buy some socks, too. The grass at the park was sure to be wet and running in wet socks is never fun. I opted not to. I did buy extra bananas, though... in case someone else was hungry besides Bubbles.
We were the first to arrive at the park. A short time later, one of the Jr. boys showed up and stood around with Bubbles and me. Slowly, but surely, St. Pats parents and runners gathered around where we had chosen to wait. Then, Jim showed up with the tent. After the tent was pitched, we felt more comfortable. Once again, like at practice last week, bug spray was a hot commodity. I need to remember to get some for next week's practices so that I'm not borrowing from others any more.
When the Jrs start to race, we start to get the Cadettes ready. They do some stretches and some light exercises before we take them on a warm up run. The warm up run is an excuse to get them all over to the bathrooms and make sure that all that stuff is taken care of before they get to the starting box. It tends to work out pretty well. I don't think we've had anyone drop out of a race because they had to pee.
For this meet, coach td didn't really give me much in the way of responsibility. I expect that to change, though. If it doesn't happen by his direction, I'll ask for it. I manned the finish line camera most of the morning. And, as it turns out, that came in handy. Coach td didn't push the right button on his digital voice recorder for the girls' run. As such, we didn't get the girls' times. The only one he remembered was Bubbles's time. I'll share that number with you a little later.
The meet starts with Jr. Girls, and then Jr. Boys. As soon as the boys are off the course, they get the Cadet Girls going. Bubbles started in the third row this time, due to her awesome time on Thursday. I stepped away from the helmet cam for a moment just after the girls team's started. I trusted the camera to another coach/parent that I had seen barking at kids that were up to no-good earlier. I knew he'd have no problem keeping people away from it.
I ran across the field and took this video with my regular camera (no sound)
Today, her finish place (the more important of the two statistics,) was SEVENTY FIRST! Her time, a phenomenal 7:43! She finished 10th among the 18 girls on her team! Now, that's not a scoring position for her team because only the first 5 runners' scores count toward the overall team score but she did affect the outcome of the meet. How? Well, let me tell you...
We didn't stick around for the Minors races, though we probably could have. I ended up taking Bubbles to meet her mom and grandma at Maumee high school where the football game was just wrapping up. Plus, there was no wind for me to go play in.
sopops Sun Sep 09 12:13:14 PM 
BizB Sun Sep 09 09:02:13 AM 
BigBro Sun Sep 09 08:20:11 AM 
Betty Boop Sat Sep 08 05:58:19 PM 
