Kelly and Claire are both on the Cross Country team this year. They’ve had to deal with some sickness and manage asthma, but they are both doing well.

Kelly was sick for their first meet, so Claire had her debut meet alone (with about 100 other girls) at Berry College. Kathy and I drove out to watch. With the rolling hills, green pastures, and variety of trees, it will probably be the prettiest course they will run this year. Claire came in 7th of the Brookwood JV girls with a respectable 25:18. She sprinted to the finish, which she never thought she would do, surprising herself.

The following Saturday, Kelly and Claire both ran together in a very rainy meet. Claire had just come down with the same illness Kelly and I had, but she wanted to give it a try. She had a pained expression on her face most of the rain, but she pulled through. Kelly was taking it easy, since this was her first meet of the season. It so happened the two of them stayed pretty close together, trading places on leading. In the end, Claire sprinted, trying to pass Kelly, who heard her coming up and sprinted herself. Kelly finished 1 second ahead of Claire. Both were covered with mud.

There are some good photos in the gallery, but this one sums it up:

They had to run through a lot of mud and puddles. Some girls had their shoes pulled off in the puddles. Little did we know all of this rain would result in the floods next Monday and Tuesday.