I spent my last day of my week off at the Massachusetts State Division IV meet at the Reggie Lewis Track and Field Center in Boston. I'll begin training for the outdoor season tommorow morning with a 4 mile fartlek.

The Meet

First, congratulations to the two girls from my school that competed today, who both ran PRs by a few seconds each (Noelle in the 300 and Christine in the 1000).

Not to downplay their performances, but by far the most amazing thing I saw today was the girls' two mile. Emily Jones from Bromfield, who many have become familiar with winning big meets (particularly a few district and state championships), and finishing 11th at the national high school cross country championships. However, going into this race she held the fastest 2 mile time in the entire country, by 9 seconds.

Emily was relaxed throughout the first mile, even smiling while maintaining the pace. She lapped everyone at least once, some twice. The meet record of 10:55 didn't have a chance at staying. She started to get faster in the last 800, and started to pick it up a lot more in the last 400. By the end of the first mile I had left my seat and was hanging over the track-edge spectator barrier, admiring the run. I was applauding with each lap as Jones went by, and by the last quarter I would not allow myself to stop. With a little help from the announcer, who was informing the crowd what they were watching, Emily brought everyone in the stadium to their feet. Nobody was sitting when the lap bell rang. When it was announced that her 10:31 was the fastest time in the country [by an astonishing 12 seconds], a roar arose from the stadium.

This race was perhaps the most amazing spectacle I have ever had the opportunity to witness at a track meet. I made sure to shake Emily's hand and tell her she ran a good race, because this was an awesome, inspiring event to watch. To bring the crowd to its feet like that is one of the things distance runners dream about. There's the little league kids and dreaming of the world series winning home run. Just like that, there's the young track distance runner and running a race which earns you a standing ovation (just as the fictional Pre did in "Without Limits"). After today, I know that dream is possible. Seeing this performance has made me want to be amazing on the track.