I again had the pleasure of helping to coach the elementary cross country team. However, this year the teams were divided into two different ones. Along with my dear friend Trish, we coached the grades 4/5 team this year. We came into the season with such high expectations and great ideas on how to improve from last year. Nevertheless, we soon realized that things do not always go according to plan and it takes time to develop these very young runners. Moreover, running is a very intrinsic pass time that some people spend decades trying to learn how to appreciate and enjoy. Not everyone is as obsessive and compulsive about her running as I am, for example.
We soon found that many of our "runners" didn't even really know what cross country was and some really didn't even like running. Can you imagine that? We had one little girl only come to the first week of practice and then explain to us that cross country really wasn't what she thought it was. When I expressed my deep sadness in her quitting, she proceeded to pat me on the back and say, "Don't worry Ms. Houston. It will be okay." I like to think that their parents like to trick them a bit into signing up for this sport! ;)
Nevertheless, we always end up having a lot of fun. It is also quite amazing to see how much the kids improve over the course of only three months. They really became motivated when we began to time their runs and they could see their times drop.
Our race was at the Doha Golf Course again this year on December 5, 2011. The temperature was much cooler than last year though. In the end, I think everyone ran their best times and it was great to see how much some of our runners from last year were really able to improve on their times and places. I would have to say that the highlight of the day was that our girls team placed THIRD! It was a such a great surprise and wonderful achievement for them! Go Dragons!
Last year's post of our race day:
http://katiehouston.blogspot.com/2010/12/asd-elementary-cross-country-2010.html
Here are some pictures from our morning at the course:
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| Warming up with Coach Trish... |
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| Stretching... |
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| Watching the grades 2/3 teams run. |
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| Great group of girls! |
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| The start line. |
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| And they are off! |
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| Our 3rd place finishers glowing with content and pride! |
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| Showing off their hard earned medals! |
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| And back to school we go! Great day team! |
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