One of the requirements to compete in these events is a membership in the USATF. This was not hard to get, but as we started seriously looking into the races, we thought it might be fun to recruit some of Corbin's teammates from school to try and form a team. They had won every meet in our region during their regular season, so we thought they would be able to go further as a group. To get into the team stuff, we hooked up with a local running club called Super Star Sports run by a great woman named Sharon. She is even a former Olympian herself in some kind of skating.
Corbin had already been training through the cross-country season, but Bowen and Rex had to get started on a regular schedule. For a couple of weeks, they ran every day after school. The first event was held in the nearby town of Plainview, and our boys were able to easily qualify for the next level as there were very few kids that even participated (we live in football country).
A few weeks later was the next round, and this would include all of the state of Texas. We traveled to Dallas for this one. We had a great time driving down and spending the night, and then watching the boys race the next day. The weather was great, and the course was nice. This was also not a huge event, but the boys had to step it up to make sure they could qualify for the nationals. They took the top 20 runners in each age group, and the top three teams.
Corbin raced first. There were two other boys from his Westover team as well as a boy from Canyon that they had battled all season, and a kid that had actually raced with the high schools all year because of his speed. They were a strong team, and they won handily.
Next came Bowen's age group. He only knew one other boy in his team from his school, but they were also a strong little group. Bo was not their top runner, but considering his very limited training, he did awesome and scored for his team.
Finally cam Rex's race. There were not enough boys from Amarillo to make a team, so he was on his own. We knew he would have to make the top 20 to move on. He ran strong and was easily in the front until about the last 400 meters. As he came out of some trees and spotted us cheering for him, he had a total meltdown crying and screaming that his throat was dry! We just encouraged him to keep going, and hoped he wouldn't quit before the finish. He managed to pull himself together, and he ended up 19th. Phew.
Back home we went and spent a couple more weeks training. We were very fortunate that the big national race was held in Albuquerque, NM, just a short 4 hours from our home in Amarillo. This event was finally the big one we had been looking for. There were over 4000 kids there, and it was big time. Theo's mom came over to see the boys run which was awesome. I think all of the boys were quite intimidated by the huge venue.
Each kid had his turn running, and we loved watching them. All three boys ended up in the high 100s. I think this was a real eye opener in many ways as they are not really used to such a high caliber of competition. Most of all, I am grateful for the lessons they are learning through these experiences. There is a bigger world out there. Even more important, when they work hard, they can do really awesome things. Even when your throat is really dry, or your foot really hurts, or you are just super tired, you can dig down and find out what you are made of. Running does that for our boys.
We will be back for more.
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