Running in the Rain

The season in British Columbia in fall, can be rainy. Days can also be nice and sunny, but regardless of the weather, sports still continue. Our grandsons are competitive cross country runners, and the last couple of week-ends tested their endurance in the finals. First, the qualifying race for grades 9 and ten, and the following week, the provincials. Jaxon is 15 in grade 10 while his brother, Jeremiah is 13 in grade 8. In his qualifying race, Jaxon won in spite of the rain, and loved trying his sprint at the finish, although it wasn’t necessary.

His younger brother ran with the older boys for the fun of it, and to practice for his own up-coming race. To his satisfaction, he came in 6th. Competitors were a sight at the finish; covered with mud, but they didn’t mind.

The following Saturday, it was pouring rain, and the cross-country provincial race was on in Vancouver, for boys in grades 9 and 10. Jaxon said before and after the race that he loves to run in the rain. There were 226 boys in the group. When they came running down the first grassy stretch, the water was spraying upwards like it does when a bus goes through a puddle. As the group began to stretch out, they came to what seemed like a pond. That didn’t deter them. They plowed through it.

We watched at different points along the course, and it was a delight to see Jaxon building up his lead. His style of running is like he had wheels going round and round.

The last stretch was very exciting because a young runner from Victoria was bound he’d win. He was a sprinter and ‘poured on the coal’ towards the end, but didn’t quite make it. He fell in the mud just before the finish line. What a disappointment for him. Jaxon won the provincials, and it was the result of lots of practice and his ability to run in the rain and love it.

For him, the day wasn’t over, because he still had to play a near-final game of soccer. That was in the rain too. His team is “high performance” and did very well. We were there to watch, and were dressed to keep dry and warm.

A picture of Jaxon, his brother Jeremiah, and their dad, Jim, their coach, was taken by the interviewer and appeared in our newspaper. Julia, the boys’ eleven year old sister would be thinking her brothers were getting considerable publicity. However, about two weeks later, when she and her mother went to see what was happening at the fish hatchery, a news reporter took her picture holding a large salmon. The newspaper published it, to Julia’s delight. She enjoys some of the glory that her brothers have been sharing. We are delighted too.