All Day at the Track

Last week A had a big summer track meet up in Essex and as usual, it was an all day affair. For all the complaining I hear about traveling to hockey games, at least they last only an hour and then you can go home and get on with your life. Track meets are brutal affairs, lasting all day and your child only takes part in a few events, so you end up watching other people's kids compete. Who wants to do that? To compound the matter, it's summer track, so it's hot and sunny, but who am I to complain?

I actually like watching A compete in track, she's a good runner, but as I mentioned, she only competes in a few events, and there are dozens of others. You figure one for every age group in each category, and there are 5-6 age groups for each event. You do the math. The meet started at 9:50, and we had to be there by 9:30. Essex is close to two hours away, so it meant an early morning. I was going to hitch a ride with our friends, the Ws, but then a friend of A's needed a lift, so I figured it would be more fun for her to be with a buddy, so I volunteered to drive. Having company made it pleasant for A, and I could zone out and drive.

The weather was hot, but we sort of lucked out with some cloud cover, so it was bearable. A did well in her events and had fun, though her team is small this year. Participation seems to be waning. I had hours to kill, so I went out looking for hockey deals and found none. Essex is a big hockey town, so I figured there would be killer hockey shops, but it's very possible only the locals know where to go.

We also lucked out in that A usually runs in the 200m relay, which for whatever reason is always the last event of the meet. This year they didn't have a relay team, so we could leave earlier. How cool is that? A ran her event and then it was time to leave, so we probably got out at least 2 hours earlier than usual. The drive home was fine, though I struggled with fatigue. I always do around that time of day. We got home in time to do a quick round of disc golf since we have nothing but free time on our hands. The life of the modern parent.

Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to Daniel X. O'neil for the pic.