Kate managed to edge out Danielle this time, probably because she was still so frustrated that Danielle beat her last week. Danielle gave her a good run for her money, though. Here's a shot using my camera's "sweep panorama" mode:
Lining up for the next relay:
After each event, the results were eventually posted on the wall outside the snack bar. Since Tom suspected that I placed in the top 10, I was pretty excited to see the outcome. I tend to get into a zone during a run; I hardly notice who is ahead of me, who is cheering for me, and what the clock says as I cross the finish. It's kind of bizarre. Usually when I run I listen to my iPod shuffle, but since that isn't allowed in KCCC, my mind goes all zen.
According to the final results, I was 5th place in the mile—overall—in my age group with a time of 7:15.660—which is easily the best I've ever done in competition. I had earned another 8 pts for Hallmark. In the mile relay, however, we were second to last in our heat and 32nd of 51 teams overall—with almost 50 seconds separating us from the first place finishers. All four of us in the relay ran the mile tonight shortly before the relay, in which we each had to run a 400 (once around the track). We did our best but didn't have much gas left in our tanks. But now I had two relays under my belt, and only one way to go but up!
By the time I got home (after 10 pm) I was prepared to eat everything that wasn't nailed down. I can't eat before a run, so I had to wait. And speaking of waiting, the medals eluded me, so I guess I'll have to try again next year! 
On my way out to the parking lot I stopped to take a photo of the stadium. Makes me wish I had been aware enough to try out for track when I was in high school. I just didn't know anything about it, and didn't have any friends that ran, so I had no idea what I was missing. Cross country was a lot of fun; I'm thankful to Amanda & Keri for getting me involved. If I could go back & do it over again, I'd run a lot harder. At the time, I was happy to enjoy the bus ride with the team to all the meets, when one of the guys would bring a boom box & we'd pop in a Violent Femmes or Led Zeppelin cassette. We knew all the words. Keri & I even ran in the meets together, singing "Add it Up." Our coach yelled at us that if we could sing, we should be pushing ourselves much harder. At the time, that wasn't the point. Now, though, I'm curious about what I might have accomplished. Because for the second year in a row, I've surprised myself. AND I've enjoyed myself. I'm an athlete!
The parking lot was lined with school buses, idle for the summer. I remembered the days when I would stay after school for Spanish Club, or National Honor Society, and would ride home on the bus with the elementary kids. I would sit way in the back, in relative solitude, and would draw the whole way home. Once the kids saw me my cover was blown. Every bus ride turned into a session in which I drew as fast as I could, to satisfy as many of the clamoring kids as possible. My only rule was that if they wanted a drawing, they had to provide their own paper. I loved it! I could go on & on about my experiences on the bus. Like when we were all especially wild toward the end of the school year, and Mrs. Hess pulled the bus over, stood up, and yelled, "You all are a bunch of horse's patoots!" Or when I caught a garter snake, tucked it into a pillowcase and brought it with me so that I could share it for show & tell. Ms. Hess wasn't such a fan of snakes, it turned out, and she kind of freaked out on me. But we made it to school & my teacher had a spare aquarium handy, so the snake was well-cared-for. Isn't it funny how one image can make all those memories flood back to you?
And just like that, it was time to retire this year's track singlet, and I had wrapped up my first season of coordinator's duties without too much trouble. While I am very much looking forward to a few nights of sitting on my butt with my feet up on the couch, I am already excited about next year's possibilities!
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