As we were working on the plan for the house, I drove out to the lot and noticed a lot of activity at the high school. I met our soon-to-be neighbor across the street, who told me that it was the elementary school's annual "Track and Field" day. Having never done this when I was in school, I asked her what all it involved. Apparently, it's one of those days that the kids look forward to all year.
Now I know why...Aaron was talking non-stop about it for a couple of months. When I was home, I'd see the classes walking out to the track and practicing. Back in the day, I actually was in fairly decent shape and did track. I was a sprinter by nature...anything over 200 yards seemed like a waste of time (just get in a car...it's quicker). I loved the sprints, though, as I ran the 110 hurdles (placed 3rd in state in 7th grade and broke a 25 year old county record in 8th grade), 100 yard dash, 200, and 400 relay (I was in 7th grade running with the 8th graders, and we shattered the state record at regionals...unfortunately, our anchor finished in the wrong lane thanks to the lines from the 100 dash start (easy thing to do), and we got DQ'ed). Proof that I'm not making this stuff up . I tolerated the 200 and the 800 relay when I ran those, but I was about exhausted near the end. I had a decent time in the 40-yard dash in high-school (4.65-4.7 my freshman year), but half of the linemen would pass me up on the 2-mile runs every Monday. At the Air Force Academy, I could pass the physical fitness test, which included the 600 yard dash (it took everything NOT to throw up after that run), but I could never do the aerobic fitness test, which was 1.5 mile run. I failed it a number of times, and, when I did pass it, it was just under the deadline. During basic training when I was in peak shape for distance running, my 1.5 mile time was still right at 11 minutes (the deadline was 11:16). I spent several months on athletic probation at the Academy because of my inability to run long distances, no matter how hard I tried. Several of my friends tried training with me, but it was hopeless. Whether it's an elevated red blood cell count (which I have), histoplasmosis (long story...never checked this out, but I'd be a prime candidate for it thanks to prolonged exposure around starlings (alive and dead) in my pre-teen years) or just plain sucking at long-distances, everyone who's seen me run knows I can't do long distances.
I bring all of this up because I finally have proof that Aaron truly is my biological son. As I mentioned earlier, I was able to watch the kids practice when I wasn't teaching. Aaron's class was always the last one of the day, so, to his detriment, I knew when to look for him. Every practice, they did a 50 meter dash and a 400 yard run (one lap). Aaron usually did really well in the 50, but he was walking about 150 yards into the 400 (he barely made it to the back straightaway). I'd usually talk to him after school to make sure that he knew that he didn't to be the best, but he had to try his best. He appeared to have my genes, though, in that he loved sprints and hated distance-running.
Aaron was extremely excited the morning of Track and Field day. The kindergarten class was scheduled to start around 12:30. Aaron was scheduled for 4 events: the long jump, the "wacky races", the 50 meter dash, and the scooter races. Up first for him was the long jump:
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| From Mush's Blog |
Everyone did a practice jump, and Aaron nailed the launch...he jumped right at the line and soared!
Yeah, Proud Pappa writing this.
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| From Mush's Blog |
His official jump didn't go as well as he started his jump a good 1-1.5 feet in front of the line. He had a blast doing it, and the smile on his face let me know that he was pleased with how he did.
Next came the wacky race. I'll just let the picture give you the 1000 needed words:
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| From Mush's Blog |
They had to run with that thing on about 20 yards, bend over, pick up a frisbee, and carry it 20 yards back. I think every kid did at least one face-plant during the event. Nobody got hurt, and everyone loved it!
Then came the 50.
They had heats, and they took the top 2 from each heat to compete in the finals. Aaron was in the second heat.
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| From Mush's Blog |
He won his heat! He's still in sprint mode as he heads back to the starting line.
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| From Mush's Blog |
The Final Heat:
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| From Mush's Blog |
AND THEY'RE OFF!
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| From Mush's Blog |
Waiting to find out how he finished:
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| From Mush's Blog |
He ended up finishing 3rd overall of all the Kindergarten boys!
Very Proud Pappa writing this. Aaron was just beaming at his accomplishment.
He had a break then, so we headed over towards where a lot of his class was hanging out and talked to some parents while Aaron sat near some friends to watch classmates do the ball throw.
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| From Mush's Blog |
Up next for Aaron is the scooter race. He's again in one of the later heats. As he gets ready, we try to get a pic...he doesn't look up, but we get a great pic of his friend, Ben.
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| From Mush's Blog |
He got second in his heat, but he qualified for the finals.
The finals go, and it was too close to call who won from our vantage point...
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| From Mush's Blog |
This pic was taken at about the half-way point.
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| From Mush's Blog |
That smile on his face should be an indication as to which (1st) place (1st) he finished (1st).
Done for the day, he headed up to the stands (bouncing around everywhere) and watched the 400. I seriously think a couple of them could beat me in the 400! After the 400, the classes go together for their awards and group pics.
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| From Mush's Blog |
...and, being Kindergarteners, they had to do one of these:
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| From Mush's Blog |
Sufficed to say, they all had an absolute blast, and I think they're already looking forward to next year's events!
2 comments:
Way to go, Aaron! =)
Just love his smile. There is no doubt that he was having a ball!
Love the whacky race pic - looks like a big vinyl Krispy Kreme!
Tink *~*~8
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