In the
spring, my elementary school would have a city track meet. Much a like a real competitive track meet,
the elementary school track meet was a series of games for the student to
compete in. After all we were just grade
school kids. Track and field is a sport which
includes athletic contests established on the skills of running, jumping, and throwing
The
name is derived from the sport's typical venue: a stadium with an oval running track enclosing a grass field where the throwing and some of
the jumping events take place. Track and field also includes road running, cross country
running, and race walking.
Carl Lewis
was a big name in 1984, and he brought attention to competitive track and field
events during the Olympics that year.
Our PE coach
would introduce the class to what a “track meet” was. He would explain each event and at times demonstrate
the event or explain how the score was kept.
Your score would result in a placement when awards were given. Some of the events were simplified for school
age kids. There was no pole vault and no huddles for example. There were other events such as running the 100
yard dash. It was 1985, and the distance was not measured in meters but rather
in standard length. There were throwing
event like the soft ball throw and a long jump contest. We were also put in teams for a relay
race.
The local high school coaches and athletic
team served as judges and score keepers.
They ran the track meet.
In the month before the track meet, our
PE class would practice for each event during class. This practice also acquainted us with rules. As
with most contests, if you break the rules there may be a chance you get disqualified.
My coach also encouraged each student to practice
at home. And I like a fool, believed
him. I thought if I tried, I might be a
runner. The goal was to increase stamina and endurance. I would put on my only
pair of athletic shoes and would jog around the block. He failed to tell me
that if you’re an overweight kid, one month of practice would not make much
difference. I guess when you are a kid,
you don’t yet see if you are fat or not. My naive self just wanted to be successful
and win an award.
The day of the track meet, we were told
to dress in a t-shirt and shorts. Since the event would be held outside in the afternoon.
We usually wore long pants during a regular
school day. I really had no clue how unflattering I looked in shorts until that
day. The classes were loaded onto buses
and we traveled 10 minutes across our little town to the high school
track. There we were met by adult and
coaches. We unloaded from the busses and walked on to the track. There were bleachers along the side of the track. Each class sat together and awaited their events
to be called. From the bleachers, we
could also watch and cheer on the kids as they ran the races. The most excitement happened during the relay
races.
I signed up for the soft ball throw and
the long jump. Everyone had to do the 100 yards dash. And of course, the coach
put me on a team with three other boys who were not my friends. But we had to
run together as a team. They put our
fastest member as the last leg of the race.
I was third in the rotation. The
theory was that if I was slow, he could make up some time. In the end, it didn’t matter. Our group
placed last. Only the top three teams got ribbons. I was last in my 100 yard
dash as well. I had proven that I was no runner.
My individual events were only slightly
better. The long jump seems simple. You run
and jump. That’s sounds simple. They
measure your marks in the sand to see how far you went. So I ran as fast as my
legs would go at full power. I ran down the approach and jumped as far as I could.
In case you were wondering, fat kids don’t fly very far. I hated this event, especially
since I ended up with sand in my shoes and somehow in the shorts. I got sixth place out of my group of six.
I did enjoy one event, the soft ball
throw. Basically, you had to throw the ball as far as you can. And thankfully there was NO RUNNING
involved! Finally something, I could
do. Each kid got three balls, and the
best of the three attempts was your final score. I got second place and a red ribbon! I was so happy that I was good at something.
I
have never understood, why people encourage you to compete in things, you are
not good at. I think each person is good at something, but you have to find it
for yourself.
Today, I’m not a runner; because that is
not something I am good at. But there are lots of other things that I excel at.
That is the way life should be. We are
all different; some are runners, and some are not.
