The Wellsville Mile

I'm fairly certain the date on this scrapbook page is wrong!  My brother was born when I was in 5th grade, which was 1990.  I'm figuring this would have been my fifth grade Wellsville Mile.  Must not have any photos of my fourth grade Wellsville Mile.   I can't believe it's been 22 years since my last Wellsville Mile run!  Now I get to sit on the sidelines & cheer my own kids on!  I told Sam today that I now get to watch the Wellsville Mile for FOUR years in a ROW!  Then I'll get a short break before Caleb runs it & a short break after his two years before Brooke runs it.  Crazy to think how many years this thing has been going!  It had been around a long time when I ran it!

Sam was in the first heat today.  That means she was in the very first group that ran!  Lucky her, she got to do it & get it over with before it hit 90*!  When I asked her how quick she was running the mile at school she told me she was about 15 minutes because "I walk a lot."  Hmmm....sounds like she takes after her mom a little! :)  Today she bested her best time by a full minute!  She clocked in at 12 minutes 9 seconds!  She was 106th in her heat (and there were still a lot of kids that came in after she did).  Not too shabby for a girl that "walks a lot"!  I think she was pretty proud of herself - as she should be!  When she was asking her friends what their time was they were all around 9-10 minutes.  I think she was disappointed that she hadn't been that quick.  I think she might keep running off and on until school starts in the fall & the official training kicks back up.  For the last month every time we go to my mom's house she jumps on the treadmill and tells my mom, "I've got to train for the Wellsville Mile!  It's coming up soon!"  She cracks me up!  She's more like me every day (now that's a scary thought!).  I sure did miss Grandma Lea today.  She was there to cheer me on at my Wellsville Mile both years.  I think Sam could feel her there as much as I could though. :)

 After the kids came over the finish line Sam said they scanned part of the runner bibs and gave them a print out of their time.  That was cool - technology has improved since my last mile! :)  They also had the kids go through a walkway (reminded me of the stalls they herd sheep through) to have the nurses check them out, get sprayed with water, pick up a drink & an ice cream.

 My cousin teaches fourth grade at Wellsville Elementary.  Sam got to talk to Aleisha as she went through the walkway where Aleisha was stationed.  When Sam got through the walkway she said, "Mom?  What's your cousin's name that teaches school again?"  I told her "Aleisha."  And I got a "Yea!  Her!  I got to talk to her back there!"  She was pretty excited :)  I was impressed she remembered Aleisha was my cousin!  We don't get together with the whole clan too often any more!  Thanks for the moral support Aleisha - Sam thought it was pretty awesome!

 Here she is coming out of the walkway (she's done being a herded sheep) :)

 Sam had lots of friends run today.  There are nine schools that participate in the Wellsville Mile.  Next year should be fun because her cousin Jade will run it too!  Sam managed to snag one of the girls from our neighborhood for a picture.  She wanted a picture with the other kid in our neighborhood but he had left earlier with his mom.

 I took the day off work and stayed for the ENTIRE event - Sam wouldn't let me leave.  We ate lunch together with her friends and did some chillin' in the shade.  I even took a short nap in the sun/shade of a tree and ended up sunburned on the back of my arms!  Oops...

I think Sam's excited about doing the mile again next year.  Running is torture to me but she sure seemed to have fun and that's all that matters.  I'll take all the sunburns necessary for the next three years in a row just to see these crazy kids of mine smile!