First Track Meet

The things parents will do to support their kids...

Joshua had his first track meet of the year Friday afternoon in less than ideal conditions. The temperature was in the low 40s with the wind blowing out of the north and a light mist at times. In fact it looked like it could start snowing at any time. I told some of the other Forney parents that Deshonna and I spent a few days back in December in Estes Park, CO and the temperature there was in the teens the whole time and I was warmer there walking around then here in Richardson.

Joshua was entered in the 3200m and 1600m races. For you old folks like me, that's the equivalent to the two mile and mile. In the 3200m, Joshua finished in 8th place with a time of 10:33. First place was 10:03. Of the three runners from Forney, Joshua had the best time. Joshua led the first three laps before being overtaken by the pack. (3200m is eight laps) Josh told me after the race that he did not really know what to expect because he had not ran a true 3200m in practice. As it turns out, he found out that he started off way too fast and didn't have anything left at the end. He also said that he would rather run a cross country meet instead of running around a track. After being used to running cross country, he said he could not believe how fast the finish comes in the 3200m.

The meet was cancelled due to the cold before the 1600m so he obviously didn't get to run it. He was really disappointed about it because his one mile split in the 3200 was 5:04. "If I can run the first mile that fast in the 3200m, then I know I can break the five minute mark in the 1600m." His goal for the 1600m is 4:40.

It was really amazing that any of the track team made it to Richardson following a very eventful day at Forney High School. Earlier in the day, the high school was evacuated following a bomb threat. All 1,700 students were bused from the high school to the newly remodeled middle school that will reopen this coming fall. It took about 45 minutes to move all the kids. Josh sent me a text message and asked me to come to the middle school to pick him up, that they were releasing kids to their parents.

By the time I got back to Forney and close to the middle school, I could tell that it was not going to be an easy task to get to where Josh was. The traffic was almost at a standstill as it looked like all the high school parents were trying to get to the middle school to pick up their kids. When I did get to the middle school about 12:15, the police officers made an announcement that the high school had been cleared and that parents could take their kids back to the school to get their personal belongings and cars.

My main concern was whether or not the track team was going to Richardson are not and how was I going to get lunch to Josh before the team left. About 12:45, Joshua finally got a signal on his cell phone and called me. He said the coaches had managed to get some pizzas to the middle school and that they were on the way to the cafeteria to eat. After that that would catch a bus back to the high school to get their track stuff and then head to Richardson.

The 3200 was scheduled to start at 2:30 and the team did not arrive in Richardson until 2:15. I had a patient in Kaufman that I really needed to see so I told Josh that there was no way I could be in Richardson by 2:30 and that I would be there for the mile. It was about 1:15 when I finally left Forney and headed to Kaufman. I saw my patient and then headed to Richardson about 2:45. Half way between Forney and Mesquite, I got another call from Josh and he said they had changed the start time of the meet and that the 3200m would not start until 3:30 and that they would run the boys and girls JV and girls' varsity 3200m before he ran. That gave me time to stop and get a hot dog and gas and then not be so rushed to get to Richardson to watch him run.

Thanks to my laptop computer, wireless air card and cell phone, I was able to set up my "mobile office" with a HEATER in the Suburban and got some work done after the 3200 and before what I thought would be the 1600.

Hopefully next week will not be as eventful before the meet and it will be warmer. Josh and his team will run at Wylie on Saturday.

Until next time...