Track!

Elizabeth has a new love. She joined the track club here in our city. She loves it! Very much. Here she is with her ribbons from the first track meet she competed in. She got a third place for the 100 meter dash and I think a seventh place for the 50 meter dash.

At first, she would only run the 50 m and the 100 m races, as they are short races. She has gradually been lead to try new events. When she started track, she was 8 years old and was still eligible to compete in the 50 meter race. She turned 9 during track season and they began to turn her away from the 50 meter. She wouldn't listen to me when I asked her to try the 200 meter race so I told her that she HAD to participate in 2 track events and 1 field event, so she consented to running the 200 meter race and the 100 meter race. She justified running the 200 to herself, saying that she had seen our family friend (Skylar) run it and had heard his family talking about the "key" to running it successfully. So she rehearsed the strategy with me, to make sure she got it right, and she ran it! I wish I could remember what she placed that first time for sure, but I am pretty sure it was second. Now it is her regular event. On Thursday, she won the 200 meter race by just under 50 meters.

Elizabeth has a particular fondness for the relays. I think she loves the baton. On Thursday, she was able to scratch up a team for the 4 X 100, which she did, by herself, with desperation and finally found three other willing participants. By the time she checked in, the officials would not let her team compete. Someone said that they could run a 4 X 400 if they really wanted to, after the 4 X 100 was finished. That team of little girls was bursting with joy!

*******Please Note: 400 meters is a full lap around the track!So that means that a 4 X 400 is 4 people, each person running one whole lap.*******

You are welcome, I didn't know that either. Not until I had a kid interested in track.

So, here are Elizabeth and her three friends, each willing to run a full lap on the track to have the chance to pass the baton to each other. *Please Note Again: Elizabeth has never ran an entire lap in a race.*

But she did this time.

And she had the time of her life.