Friday evening, Jude left for Louisville, KY, to watch JP and his MBA cross country team race on Saturday morning in the Trinity/Valkyrie Invitational. I stayed behind with Joe because he had baseball. It's important, I think, to divide my time between the boys when it comes to attending, and coaching their sporting activities. That being said, I hated to miss JP's second race of the year.
This race, in particular, is crazy. One of our friends, who ran in it years ago, called the start of the race a cross between Braveheart and the Kentucky Derby. 350 + runners practically sprinting from the starting line before things thin out around the one mile mark. 44 teams. The biggest race, by far, the boys will run in all season. Also, the deepest and fastest field, too, with some of the best runners from several states.
While I can't provide the details of the race, I can say that it's more nerve-racking to try to follow a race on the race website, on my phone, then it is to watch it in person. That's how I felt Saturday morning, anyway, as I sat in my office at home and kept refreshing the website, waiting for the results.
At last, the results came through and I saw that JP had finished 11th overall with a time of 15:14:16, a new PR. Jack Wallace finished 7th with a time of 15:04:99, also a PR and a new school record. After the race, JP announced to our friend, Giles Ward, that he had run the second fastest 5K in school history (after Jack's). MBA was the only school with two runners in the top 11, too. MBA finished 4th overall, which was quite an accomplishment for the Big Red.
What was really cool for our family, too, was that Cecil Ward set another PR, finishing the race in 17:03:12. JP and Cecil have been friends since they were three years old, attending Children's House, so it's special to Cecil begin to come into his own as a runner. Giles, who ran cross country at North Carolina, is excited for Cecil and so are we. In fact, JP's sophomore class - JP, Gabe, Cecil, and Wynn - is rounding into form.
I'm proud of JP, to be sure. I don't know where this is going but a 15:14:16 is beyond impressive, especially so early in the season. Can he get to 15:05? 15:00? Who knows but I wouldn't put it past him. As I've told him, he has a rare combination of discipline, talent, and desire. That's rare in a teenage runner, I think. It might just make him great.
Sunday, Joe and I went for a three mile run, after he asked me on Saturday night if we could run on Sunday morning. It always make me happy when Joe asks to go for a run, just as it did when JP was his age. Joe and ran a different route, easy, and finished at Barista Parlor in Hillsboro Village. I got a coffee and we walked home, talking the whole way. Nothing is better than the cool down walk and talk with one of my boys.
It's always a gift to run with one of my sons. Always.
JP, Wynn (injured), Gabe, and Cecil. Sophomores.
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