Yesss!! I finished my race in 5th place!!!! I was so proud of myself when I finished. When I saw my mom, she hugged me so tight. She was very amazed.

At the start, there were 250 boys lined up all the way across this huge field. I was on the far left with the rest of my teammates. I had a strong start, but there were a lot of boys that were ahead of me when the course narrowed. I just kept my pace strong and cleared my mind.

My coach told us that since this is the last race of the season, that we should be completely exhausted by the end. We should have nothing left. So I ran at my maximum. When I finished I was so tired. I was so tired that I was crying.

My team took 2nd place. We were all very excited. Here are our results.

After the race, my mom and I went straight to Toys R Us and I got to pick out a new yo-yo! This was very exciting because my mom NEVER takes me to Toys R Us.

We went to a special victory dinner with my team and then after that we went to the USATF Awards Ceremonies. I got 2 awards – one for my individual results and the other for my team results. I had such a fun time this weekend and am so happy!

Some more photos from the race.

Even more photos!

Live race footage

I am here in Alabama and it is the day before my big race. I met a new friend at the airport on the way here. His name is Jack and we ended up sitting together on the plane. He is on the same team as me. I am still meeting a lot of my teammates because I started so late. We had a lot of fun. He brought his DS and we battled each other in Mario Kart, Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games, and New Super Mario Bros.

This morning I went to the course at Veterans Park and jogged through it to get the feel of it. The start is really wide and then it narrows into a path that goes around a lake. You have to go around the lake twice before you then loop around another section to the finish. After the jog-through, my team practiced several starts.

After our morning at the course, my mom and I went to the Wynfrey Hotel and we bought some sweatshirts for souvenirs. I got a really cool bright yellow sweatshirt 🙂

I have been thinking a lot about tomorrow and I am a little bit nervous. My mom tells me I shouldn’t be, but I am. I bet all the runners are feeling the same way. My mom says to just do my best! And I will.

We ended up going to lunch with Jack’s family. Then we headed over to the Opening Ceremonies at Samford University. It was really fun. They had a big band playing music as we paraded into the stadium. There were 16 regions from across the country. I am from Region 15. Each region had these “Hoover Belles” leading the way. They were girls who were wearing really big dresses and hats.

At the ceremony, the director of the competition spoke. Also, a man named Chris Solinsky spoke. He is an amazing athlete and runner. He gave a speech encouraging all of us to do our best. Afterwards, at the big Pasta Dinner, I got to meet him and get his autograph. It was so cool. I will have to write more about him later.

That’s all for now. I’ll keep you updated.