Gone With the Wind

I have found a new love. Watching you run. In the fall. 

Each Cross-Country event presents a challenge against your previous time on this particular course. You time yourself, and run to the point of throwing up. After each race, you are visibly flushed and overwhelmed with anxiety. Your head is clouded and you feel as if you're going to faint. 

Still, you run. As if your life depends on it. You run like you're being chased by the wind. You run because you love to challenge yourself. You run because it's in your DNA. Your dad was a runner, and his dad was a Cross-Country star. 

This 8th grade year of Cross Country, you have yet to place less than Top 3. It is inevitable around the final bend, I anticipate seeing you bolting out of the woods toward the finish line. Because you kept the faith and you will finish your course. 

But the absolute coolest thing about watching you run is the fact that you and your best friend Emma Margaron are intrinsically glued together no matter what. You start out running together, and coming out of the woods, it's always you and Emma still side-by-side. She makes you laugh. She makes you challenge yourself. She makes you want to push harder. And sometimes she pulls ahead by a few steps at the finish line. Sometimes you are the one pulling ahead. 

But you're never more than three steps from each other. 

 

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Running Away From Corona!

It's been a helluva year. So many challenges, not the least of which is a virus that has quarantined most of the country, and forced the rest of us to wear these awful masks, even outdoors. Yesterday afternoon your Cross-Country Team received word from Governor Whitmer: all athletes must wear a mask, even running through an open field! 

It all seems so ridiculous, but current death totals from the virus are somewhere close to 200,000 in the United States alone. Most Americans are getting tired of the stipulations and want to revolt. Because 'Merica!'

We gathered outdoors yesterday in an open field, surrounded by wild flowers and screaming parents. This was your first event of the season, and you were "meh" about the anticipation leading up to the race.

I think I was more excited than you were! My dad came along too, and we all cheered you on. 

For the past year, you've been a fierce competitor to your best friend, Emma Margarone. We've all grown close with their family as well. She's been a really good friend to you. You both push each other. 

Side by side, neck to neck, sprinting toward the finish. 

When we saw you from a distance, coming out of the woods in 4th place overall, you were on pace to break your own personal record, and your goal was to finish Top 5. 

Your little diesel heart powered its way uphills in the mud toward an electric finish. 

If you look closely, you'll see me watching you past me...