State Cross Country meet and more......

Sorry for the delay. Things are a bit "bumpy" right now so I have neglected the blog. The economy has affected my job to the point of needing to make some tough decisions.
Enough of that.....what about the State Meet?

On Friday the 6th of Nov. I traveled with the team to Eugene Oregon. We stopped at the State Meet course at Lane Community College.



The boys did a combined course jog\workout. Out of the 5 boys on the team, all have been here before except 1.



We dodged rain drops and a cold west wind and then loaded back on the bus to go and find our motel room for the night. We found our rooms and unloaded the bus. After a short rest we again loaded back on the bus for a trip to Mazzis Italian restaurant. It's a tradition with the team to eat at Mazzis. The place was PACKED with people so we elected to order our food to go and went back to the motel for the evening. The boys played guitar hero in their room and it was lights out at 10 p.m.
Saturday morning we were up at 6:30 getting ready for the big day. The boys devoured food from the "continental" breakfast. Oatmeal, fruit, bagels and such were consumed in quantities only 5 distance runners could. On to the meet for our 10:30 start time. The boys like to be at the race about an hour and a half ahead of time so they can prepare.
Over a hundred runners from the top 3A schools in Oregon lined up for the race.

Can you spot Jon?


Jon's back problems continued to plague him and he finished back of the front runners. An overall disappointing season for him.

Below, Jon obviously in pain as he fights his way up the hill.


Below: With 300 meters to go in Jon's high school cross country career he puts the pain aside and passes about 5 runners at the finish.



The Amity boys ran well overall, to finish 6th as a team. Aaron ran to a 7th place finish and stood on the awards stand with the top runners in the state! All of the pictures of the meet can be found HERE

In the past 5 years I have traveled thousands of miles with Jon to watch him run. He has a gift. He is graceful and powerful. We have ate on the road at nearly every fast food place there is. We have talked with excitement after good races and sat in peaceful silence after not so good ones. We have stood in the pouring rain and wind of the Pacific Northwest and basked in the sunshine and sweltering heat of the east coast. It's hard to put into words how I will miss these times. One more track season to go and Jon's HS running career will be at an end. Thanks for the memories son!


Glynn Jr.