Young Guns

What a great weekend of racing. The Penn and Drake Relays, Payton Jordan Invite, a local Half Marathon and our city championships track meet between our three local high schools. It is so much fun to watch the young guns out there giving every ounce of energy, sweating, and pushing themselves to the extremes of their physical potential. Scores of personal records set the tone for the day. One former athlete after over a year of struggling with a severe leg injury bounced back to his old self winning both of his races and setting a pr in the mile. A current athlete that I coach set a school record with his pr in the mile and then came back to win the 800 with a big kick over the last 100. Nothing like a super tight finish to get a coach to have a stroke on the infield. And yet another ran pr's in both the mile and 800! Best of all, an athlete that I have had the privilege of coaching for the past couple of years capped off his senior year with a huge pr in the two mile. As much as I love to compete, coaching and watching this young men fall in love with the sport and strive for excellence is what makes this such a wonderful sport to participate in.

So to all the Mission Oak, Tulare Union and Tulare Western distance runners, well done. Well done my young friends. May you find as many years of joy in running as I have and from all of us that have gone before you, we are very proud of you! Long may you run and swift be your strides.