When we took Mia to Kansas to compete in the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship, Mica took the opportunity to interview her sister. She wrote up an article for her journalism class. The teacher liked it and asked to publish it in the school paper. Mica was so excited. We waited and waited for the issue to come out. I could tell something was wrong when she walked in the door. They had published the article, but it had someone else’s name on it. She was crushed. Mica has always enjoyed writing and she worked really hard on this piece.
She talked to the teacher about it. We were hoping that they would print a correction in the next paper. Instead, they printed it in the Mayfield Messenger, a newsletter that is mailed to the parents of each student. We got it yesterday and you should have seen Mica’s face. She lit up! The newsletter is folded in half and stapled together and they put her article so that it shows up on the outside. I’m really proud of her.
We were completely unprepared for the severity of the cold. The kids don’t have winter jackets because they don’t really need them here. We wear hoodies or windbreakers when it gets cold. I thought that wearing several layers of clothing with our jackets on top would be enough but I was SO WRONG. Except for a couple of outings lasting fifteen minutes or less, the kids stayed in the van with the heater on. Even when Mia ran, the big girls watched the kids so Mike and I could watch her and they could stay warm. Even though we were physically uncomfortable, it was amazing to be around all that ice and snow and haze. The sky was white. The ground was white. It was a different world.
THE RACE
Frigid temperatures didn’t phase the runners. Almost three thousand kids were scheduled to run. Conditions were difficult at best. The course had a lot of hills, including a few steep inclines. There was a big snow on Thursday, so the mud was covered with ice and snow. We saw several kids slip and fall when walking the course Friday. In fact, Mike took a bad spill and hurt his back. Another parent slipped in the same spot and broke his leg. The temperatures stayed in the lower twenties with the windchill dipping into the teens. I am blown away by the kids that participated. Every single one of them was amazing and they deserve a lot of credit for running that day.
On Saturday, we kept Mia in the van until the last possible minute. She has had problems with her back for the past few months and it really affected her in the last race. This time, we kept heat packs on her back to loosen her up and massaged her back and legs before she had to go warm up. Her shoes are very light and thin and got wet right away. Her feet were purple, they were so cold.
Although around 120 girls qualified in Mia’s division, only 83 showed up to run. She was ranked 58th and we were hoping she would break the top forty. She ran a solid race and despite falling on one of the hills she finished 33rd with a time of 21:00. I am so proud of her. To put it in perspective, she ran 21:45 in Utah under perfect conditions. The girl who won last weekend’s race [WOW! What an awesome runner!] qualified with a time of 16:57. Mia has never competed against someone of that caliber before. We were expecting the leaders to finish in the 17’s or 18’s, but the winner posted a time of 19:04. That is a difference of over two minutes. In fact, almost every single runner was much slower on Saturday’s race. I was very proud of Mia and the effort she made!
Cadillac Ranch We weren’t able to see as many things as I wanted because of time and the weather. One thing we were able to enjoy was a visit to Cadillac Ranch. I think this was the highlight of the trip for most of the kids. It is an art installation on the side of the highway outside of Amarillo, Texas. It was created by Stanley Marsh 3 in 1974 and consists of ten Cadillacs buried nose down in the ground. Covered with graffiti, they are an ever changing and instantly recognizable America roadside attraction.
See all the photos from our trip on flickr: set | slideshow
The National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships are this Saturday. I’m sure Mia is nervous, but we haven’t talked much about it. It’s too late for any serious training, so we want her to relax and enjoy herself. She is ranked right in the middle (58th). I’m hoping she can break into the top forty. If you want to see where she’ll be running (covered bridges!), you can view a short video on the usatf website.
When we went to the awards banquet for the high school cross country team they had a slideshow (almost twenty minutes long!) of photos that all the parents took during the season. Of course, I didn’t get my pictures in on time so none of them were included. Here is my version… much shorter with more pictures of my own kids.
We’re on our way home. Mia did well, placing 6th overall. She and Leah were the only two to qualify for Nationals. Great job girls!
You know what that means, don’t you? We’re on our way to Kansas! The big race is just a few weeks away [December 8th]. We will be driving the van and taking all the kids, so our main expense will be gas. Want to help? Click on ‘Kansas or bust’ at the top left hand side of this page.
We made it! After fifteen hours of travel time over two days, we arrived in Salt Lake City for the Regional Junior Olympic Cross Country Championship. Only minutes after arriving, we were already in trouble with the locals. Apparently, many people who live in Utah happen to be Mormon and they take things a bit more seriously than say…. Mike does. While the kids walked the course, one of the other dads took out a cigar. Just to be safe, Mike asked the event coordinator if it was okay. It was not.
This is where Mike and I differ. I am much more willing to go with the flow and avoid a scene. When in Rome, or in this case Utah, do as the Romans do. Mike is the complete opposite. He will do something he doesn’t really want to do out of spite. You might say he has a problem with authority, unless he is the one in charge. Once, he was running a two million dollar job at a Mormon church and they caught him chewing tobacco. You should ask him about that one. To make a long story short, he was thrown off the job. So, it didn’t surprise me at all to find him laughing it up behind the portable toilets and puffing on a cigar.
All joking aside, we are nervous and excited for tomorrow. There are eight kids from Las Cruces running. Five of the boys are on a team in the intermediate division. One boy is running in young men and both of the girls are in young women. So, we’ll have three races to watch tomorrow starting at 12:30. Wish my baby luck and I’ll let you know how it goes.
The top twenty finishers in each division and the top three teams qualify for nationals.
