The Race

The highlight of my Seattle visit, the weekend of October 27-29, 2012, was Kirsten's race.  As a 14-year-old freshman, she has made the seven-girl varsity cross country team.  The team raced in a town north of Seattle, in a qualifying race for next week's state championships.  The race included teams from all over Western Washington, and only five would go to the state meet.  Grant is an alternate on the boy's varsity team, as a sophomore, and was at the race, although he didn't run.  A week or two ago, he won first place in a large junior varsity meet.

Of course, we needed a carb dinner to get Kirsten and Grant ready.  We headed into downtown Seattle, in the rain, to Buca di Beppo.  Each big kid chose a pasta entree, and the little kids were served first. 

Lisa wandered around the restaurant, taking fun photos of the tongue-in-cheek decorations and "house rules."  She also took photos of the light-hearted guests and servers celebrating Friday night.

 

 

The restaurant sign was a bright beacon on a dark, wet night.

When Lisa, Michael K, Bryce, Alyssa, and I arrived at Kirsten's race, on Saturday morning, the bleachers were full of people and the rock music was playing. Grant was in the stands, waiting with the boys' team, as we arrived with our umbrellas.

The Eastlake High team had a great position, right in the middle of the line, in their white race suits.

When the race began, we dashed around the field, searching for vantage points to see Kirsten and cheer her on, as she ran each lap.

 

 

 

 

 

We also cheered for Kirsten's team members, as they finished each lap.

 

 

 

Kirsten finished the race in 21 minutes.  She was disappointed with the time, but it was high enough to qualify the girls' team for the state meet.

 

 

"Kirsten needs to kick at the end of the race," Michael K and Kirsten's coach agreed.  Michael, who ran in the state cross country meet last year, knows how to "kick," or dash out front, during the last lap.  Kirsten is already running extremely well, but her coach thinks she can be even faster.

 

Of course, we celebrated afterwards.  There was a great Indian buffet in Bellevue.  Alyssa loves her naan...