Mariah and Jake's cross country race

Last Friday, we ran in the zone (district) cross country race. Because we came in the top 4 from our school race last month, we got to move on to the next level. It was held in Wingham. (about 20 mins from our house) In each race there were around 70 kids. We only raced against our aged kids, and our sex. It had rained the night before and was a fairly cloudy day, therefore there were heaps (a lot) of slippery mud puddles. There was a particular spot where many kids slipped and got all muddy. It was around a sharp corner. One kid lost his shoe and carried it the rest of the way. Every once in awhile you would see a kid run by with mud across half of his body. Neither Jake nor I slipped.

My race (Mariah) was 3 kilometres long. I led the race the whole way, and a girl I know from other sports was right behind me the entire race. We were a little ways ahead of everyone else. In the last 200 metres or so, she started to sprint, and I attempted to. She outran me. I had only done a little bit of training and was not much prepared. She was the state winner the last two years. I ended up coming 2nd. The top 6 people get to move on to Newcastle in a week and a half. I have been doing a lot of training and will be prepared for the next race. My shoes were covered in mud at the end of my race. I had run in a mud spot and they were filthy.

My race (Jake) was 2 kilometres. In my race I was 12th or 13th almost the whole race. The person in front of me slipped and fell and I almost tripped over him. I jumped over him to not fall down. My mate, Aidan, beat me in the school race but I beat him in this race. He came 51st and I came 13th. Aidan slipped over too. Aidan's shoes were filled with mud and were all dirty with mud. The top 6 got to go on, so I don't get to move on.

The pictures are of me (Mariah) at the start line. The person to the left of me, in the tights, won my race. Another is of Jake and Aidan holding up their place # cards. Another is of me running, and one of Jake running. And the last one is of all of the kids from Old Bar school that made it to that race. 7 of them made it to the next one, in Newcastle.

Cheers,

Mariah & Jake