Thursday, May 1, 2008

Hershey Track Meet

Despite the name, there are no chocolate bars handed out at this particular track meet. Though disappointing, the events turned out to be quite fun.

Sav ran hers 1 1/2 weeks ago and Mack ran his on Tuesday. Because I knew I would be off school by the time Mack's track meet came around I volunteered to help out. I showed up and I was asked to be at the "start line" for all the races. This meant lining kids up in their appropriate lane number and then by heat number. I was told that this job is a bit harder when we are dealing with 3rd graders. It was mayhem, but it was fun. This was the first time the kids in our school district had been in the track meet because 3rd grade is the first time they are allowed at the event. I was there for the 50, 100, 200 and 400, with the kids running the original heats, the semifinals and the finals.

Mack participated in the 200 and 400 as well as the baseball throw. I am not sure how he did with the baseball throw because he never told me and I never heard his name announced for semifinals/finals.

I was there when he ran the 200. After he ran I hightailed it to the ladies room because I had been standing at the track for about 3 hours and needed a potty break. On my way back to the start line I stopped at the desk where they were tracking times and asked what the best time was for the 200. I can't remember the exact time, something like 36.57, and it was Mack and one other boy who had tied for that time. Sweet.

After a little while he ran the 400 (1/4 mile, once around the track). Mack was told by his father that he needed to set a steady pace and after the last corner he needed to sprint. I was standing at the finish line and saw him come around the corner and started screaming, "Give it all you got, Give it all you got!" He started booking it towards the finish line and ended up coming in 3rd place.

Then about 10 minutes later he was called for the finals in the 200. You might already be able to see this coming, but after he had basically sprinted for 1/4 mile and only having about 10 minutes to recover he had to run the 200 which is half way around the track. He ended up coming in 3rd place there too.

I am so proud of him. He has so much energy and he may as well burn it off on the track. His teacher suggested we enroll him in track and we are thinking about it.

Sav didn't get any medals this year, but as I recall her first year she won a medal in each event she competed in.

I always get pretty proud of my kids that they are so athletic and I hope they keep it up, to feel healthy and be healthy.

4 comments:

Jeff said...

Wow. Good for M. That would not be me.....no way I could ever win a medal for track. I read Into the Wild a few years back. Interesting read. I still haven't seen the movie. I need to do that one of these days. Hope you enjoy the book.

Holley said...

That is really exciting for M and S. It really is so fun to be outside and watch your kids have fun and interact and be successful. Sports is such a great learning experience for kids. It really helps them learn how to be both gracious winners and good losers.

I'm so excited to see what you are reading. Anne of Green Gables is one of my absolute favorite books of all time. You should see if S would like to read that with you, I think she would love it. I also love Nicholas Nikelby. You've got some great reading ahead of you. I don't know if you've ever seen the Anne of Green Gables mini-series, but my Mom has those on tape and they are really fun. Even my boys (when they were younger) loved watching that series with me. Great, clean, family oriented entertainment.

Cote Corner said...

congrats to the kiddos!!

Katie said...

Awesome! And to think that he can run without pain. Sure do miss those days...never thought I'd be saying that.