Finishing the Course, STATE FINALS!!!

 Although your little diesel heart is running on fumes, you knew this was your last battle. It has been bittersweet and nostalgic for you to stretch out and warm up with your team... lining up with your sister and knowing this was your last dance together. 

You mentioned that you had emotionally checked out a long time ago, but you had been selected as the team captain, so you felt obligated to put on a smile and encourage the others around you. Keeping up the Dutch Spirit for the sake of team unity was more important than your own immediate desires. 

The entire community showed up for paid parking to watch the regional invitational at Allendale High School. We found your tent, but by the time we arrived you were already stretching out near the start line. 

So Teresa and I split up to cheer you on at different vantage points along the trail. Grandma Judy (and Keegan!) followed along, and my dad hobbled to the faint, white, spray paint line to anticipate the runners flying by.

A golf cart turns the corner first, inevitably followed close behind by Emma from West Ottawa. She's the best runner in the state, and has already received a scholarship to Michigan State University next year... then a couple more runners closely behind her. 

And there you - flying around the corner, always near the front of the pack! 

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So here's the deal. You don't appreciate it now, but one day you will. You feel my love bombs and perhaps a little invaded by my aggressive cheering. But one day you will always remember that your dad had your back 100%, and that since your birth I have been your BIGGEST FAN! 

As you were running by, I yelled: "Give it everything you've got. This is your last race; leave it all on the field. Nothing left! I'M SO PROUD OF YOU!"

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Something must have snapped inside of you, 3/4 of the way through the race. You turned your speed up to an eleven at the risk of blowing your diesel engine. But it kept beating, and with every step you separated yourself from the others. You kept passing people, until the final leg approached the grand stand bleachers. I had already been waiting for you at the finish line. In my mind I had this idyllic vision of you collapsing into the arms of your father, like a movie scene. 

I had to squint. 

Wait.

Is that...?

Ambria!!! 

You were flying toward the finish line, setting a season PR, with nobody around you. You had distanced yourself from the others, and left it all on the field. *Literally. 

And in the end, your coach Meagan came over with your timer and enthusiastically shouted, "You made it! You made the state qualifier! You're an individual runner, representing Holland at the STATE FINALS next week! 

So there you were, surrounded by friends and family - finally getting the honor you deserve. It was a bittersweet moment which meant that you had to rally yet again for one. more. race. 

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