Traveling Man

Saturday morning, JP and the MBA cross country team raced in at the Daviess County Classic in Owensboro, KY.  Because I missed the last race in Louisville, KY, I decided to make the two hour drive that morning, then hustle back to town to coach Joe's baseball games at Warner Park.  The bus left MBA at 6:15 a.m., which is about the same time I pulled away from the house.

The drive was nice, particularly since I had gotten a good night's sleep on Friday night.  Podcasts and music all the way to Bowling Green, KY, then across I-165 over the Owensboro, KY.  I even arrived in time to get a cup of coffee downtown, such as it was, before driving over to Yellow Creek Park. 

Apparently, MBA has run in the Daviess County Classic a few times in the past but not since the pandemic.  It's a race where the junior varsity can compete, too, which is part of the attraction, I think.  Also, it's an easy drive and one that can be made the morning of the race, so it's not necessary for the school to spring for hotels the night before the race.

Going in, we knew the field wasn't too competitive.  Jack Wallace and JP were predicted to finish 1 - 2, based on previous times, and that's exactly what happened.  In fact, Jack, JP, and Gabe finished 1 - 2 - 3 and MBA's varsity, as a team won easily.  Later, the junior varsity made it a clean sweep for the morning by winning their race, as well.

To me, the course was more hilly than the course at the Trinity-Valkyrie Invitational in Louisville, KY, and the times reflected as much.   Jack won the race in 15:23:80 and JP ran second in 14:34:70.  Gabe was just under 16:00:00 again at 15:59:90.  Also, by the time the boys ran at 9:30 a.m., the sun was out and it was surprisingly hot for early October.  Not idea conditions for PR's.

Coach Russ and I stayed together and watched the boys at the 1, 2, and 3 mile marks, cheering for all of the Big Red varsity runners as they passed us.  JP was running with Jack at the 1-mile mark but by the 2-mile mark, Jack had opened up a bit of a lead, which he maintained through the end of the race.

Jack and JP push each other, as I've written in this space before.  JP wants to run with Jack, I know, which motivates him and keeps him going in races.  Jack knows, I think, that if he has a bad race or lets up, JP will be there.  The competitiveness of their relationship is good for both of them.  

Although it wasn't a competitive race, it's nice to see the boys bring home more hardware for the school trophy case.