Josh sets PR in 1600m

Joshua set a personal record last Friday at the Cotton Ford Relays held at Greenville High School. Josh took third place in the 1600 but also ran his fastest time ever by breaking the five minute mark to finish with a 4:53. He also took second place in the 3200 with a time of 10:38. The winning time in the 1600 was 4:47 while a 10:28 took the top spot in the 3200.

Joshua enjoyed some friendly harassing from my boss before the 1600. From all accounts, Leo Sanders, my boss, was not bad as a long distance runner in his younger days at Carthage High School. He made it to Greenville in time to watch the 3200 and then stuck around to see the 1600. Between races, Leo started giving Josh a hard time about how slow he ran and kept calling him a "sissy" every time Josh asked for something to eat. "All you need is some water and a power bar you sissy."

As the time between races got longer and longer, Leo finally told Josh, "You run a 4:50 mile and your dad will buy you a big steak." Josh looked at me and I agreed. "So if I run a 4:50 you are going to take me to Salt Grass and buy me a big steak," Josh asked. Once again I said yes. Remember, up until last Friday, his fastest mile was 5:00. As it turned out, it must have motivated Josh. Even though he didn't hit the 4:50 mark, he got very close. When he crossed the line and got his time from the timekeeper, Josh made some comment about being upset about his time. The timekeeper told him that he had a very good time at which Josh replied, "Yea but I just missed getting a steak." A lot of his teammates also came running up to him to see what his time was because they all had heard about the steak bet.

The next meet is one that was just added to the schedule this coming Saturday at Lancaster. We are already committed to be at the Leadership Training for Christ (LTC) convention in downtown Dallas so Josh will not get to run in the 3200. There is a chance we will be able to get him to the meet in time to run the 1600, that is if the race is later in the afternoon like it is with most meets. Otherwise, the next meet will be March 29th at Little Elm.

Maybe by then, Josh will have to run a 4:40 to get a steak.