Bragging Rights
Last weekend, my 16-year-old grandson ran his first half marathon, the Blue Ridge Half-Marathon on the Parkway (yes, they ran up mountains 
).  Drew is a crosscountry runner at his high school so he’s already in tune with this sort of thing, unlike his grandmother or anybody else in his family. We’re only capable of doing the rah rah bit and wondering where this kid came from.
Here Drew (aka a regular blogger here on Buried Under Books in the guise of Einstein’s Tongue ) is hanging around waiting for time to start, surely a nerve-wracking time although he manages to look completely calm and cool. I hear that comes with being a “real” runner but I have no personal knowledge of that and never will. My idea of exercise is changing the channel on the TV remote.  (Hey, pushing those buttons requires forethought and planning and active effort, right?) Of course, while I can’t get into his head when it comes to running, my TV addiction doesn’t compute with him because he and his mom, my own flesh and blood, have no TV. None. I do not understand these people.
Then here he is just before the race started, looking rather pensive, gearing up mentally, I suppose. Or maybe he’s thinking about the yummy food, like chocolate, that’s in his near future after denying himself for much too long. Perhaps he’s wondering what on earth he’s doing there practically at the crack o’ dawn, getting ready to run up mountains, for heaven’s sake. Or, most likely, he’s completely zoned out, in his own little world.  Oh, the trials and tribulations of being a serious runner!
So, off they go and, like every other runner the world over, Drew is focused. How do they do that? I can’t do it, at least not the way they can. I can get wrapped up in what I’m doing but it’s really easy for me to get distracted, kind of like a dog who’s minding his own business when — SQUIRREL! — and then whatever he was doing is just…gone.
There are 450 people of all ages running the half marathon but only 20 in Drew’s age group, 11 to 21, male and female. Only four are below the age of 17. Not a lot of highschoolers but there’s one intrepid 11-year-old. Yikes!
Finally, the finish line and Drew has accomplished what he set out to do. He’s 9th out of 20 in his age group and, even more impressive to me, 134th out of the 450 total, putting him in the top 30%. Wow—that’s MY grandkid and he did this all on his own, with a lot of help from his mom. Bravo!!!
Now, please excuse him while he goes comatose
May 2, 2010
Posted in: Tales of a Bookseller
Loading ...
3 Responses
I’ve just gotten into running this year, mainly because of some mud runs I’m doing. Somehow, running a half marathon still seems way too big of a challenge for me, so my hat is off to him as well.
Thanks, Mark!
I said the same thing just under a year ago, Mark. I remember a time when I couldn’t run a 5K to save my life! I have my cross-country coach to blame for changing that.
Leave a Reply