On Friday I checked out of school to leave for an overnight cross-country meet in Charlotte, NC. It was a trip for top 25. I'm number 26. One girl was not able to go, requiring me to take her place. I was really nervous because this was a varsity meet and the girls on my team all ran a pace about 2 minutes faster than me. When we ran the course the day before the race, I was having a bit of a tough time. After all, the girls had assured me it was really an easy course. I disagreed. Saturday we ran at 12:15 pm. EVERYBODY was expecting to get their personal record, including me, but I expected to get a 22:45 at best. The ground we ran on was extremely dry and gravelly and the weather was over 80 degrees. We went out and I was passing all these really good girls on my team and I was getting afraid that I would not be able to keep it up.
My first mile was a 6:48 pace and the night before coach told me my first mile should be a 7:30. Of course I slowed down but not drastically, actually I kept it in relatively the low 7's (minutes) I wound up getting a 21:38. Only 3 girls on my team improved on their times and I was 4th for my team in the open race.
What does this mean? I'm now on varsity! As for the girl who's place I took, I ran faster than she ever has... and I think I may have just pushed her out of the top 20... Oops!
That's fantastic, Kelly! Congratulations! Why don't you have a better idea of what your final time was? You broke 23:00 *and* 22:00.
The finishing line funnels into a shoot so that the order of finish can be recorded. Order is the thing that matters for the meet, not time. There is a time official, but those records are not available until 24 to 48 hours later.
Sometimes there is a time clock that the runner can see, and know within a second or two their final time. In this meet a guy was shouting out the time every now and then. Kelly heard him shout 21:15 about 100 feet out. Hence her guess. We'll know for sure soon, but either way, she wiped out 23 *and* 22 and is now focused on 21 and starting to talk about 20!
Kelly, that was great. It shows you have both the mental and physical toughness to do well. We are very proud of you. Keep up the good work.
T-Riffic, Kelly!!! You are a winner in my book, no matter what your time is. Glad you made a good showing and I am sure your team was proud of you!
Actually I did come in 4th for my team in the open race...