Bleacher sitting, and sitting, and sitting...

I've often said that being a parent with kids who play sports is a long exercise in being completely clueless - and often, it seems, deliberately kept in the dark. I can't even say how many times I've heard things like, "oh, Mom, we just found out there's a tournament tomorrow after school... in Healdsburg!" Or, "Mom, I need track spikes/cleats/underarmor/fill_in_name_of_sporting_equipment by tomorrow morning" (usually said at dinner, mind you!) This time it was, "Mom, I need a ride to Los Gatos Saturday morning - we have to leave by 6:30 a.m. "...

Los Gatos... which means the "KBell" track meet... that brings back one of my favorite memories from last year! Because this year actually turned out to be
short & sweet, I'll tell you about last year's bleacher-sitting marathon instead. It's much more interesting, in a boring sort of way! The coach had tried to warn us by calling it "the longest day" but somehow his warnings didn't sink in. It was my (and Will's) first time at a meet that size - some 58 schools attending.

Now, at a normal track meet here in Marin, it's a rare event that has more competitors than fill one heat - so the 100M sprints, for example, only take a minute. (Much less, technically.)

But when you have 58 schools competing... it's a whole different story.
Some events have hundreds of competitors in them. And somehow even the sprints are less exciting when there are 13 heats... just for JV. Add another 11 heats for girls... and then 15 more for Varsity boys... suddenly that "fast" event has lost a lot of zing. Now try to imagine the long events... it was a whole new learning experience for clueless mom here!

(A side note - at least in track, unlike some other sports, I can usually figure out who won! A definite point in track's favor, in my opinion!)

Add to that hot bleachers, in the full sun. A forgotten bleacher cushion. Not enough snacks. And knowing that the next event Will would be in, after the 9:30 a.m. one he had started with, was scheduled for 5 p.m. I entered a weird, passive, just-passing-time zone. Walked around a little, but mostly just got hot & tired. Then, finally, at 5 p.m., they started the 300M hurdles. You guessed it... many many heats. They took forever, and it was starting to get dark when we thought we could leave. Finally! I was sooooo ready. Though a bit comatose by then...

But then Will got asked to fill in for a teammate who had left, thereby leaving the 4x400M relay team short one guy. Will's a good kid - he said 'yes'. I sighed, and sat back down on my thoroughly numb behind. It must have been 6:30 by then. I looked in the program, and saw that all that was left was the two-mile (well, it's metric now, but they still call it that.) No problem - I can wait while the kids run around the track 8 times, right?

Oh... wait a minute! There are 120+ kids in it! No, that's wrong too - 120+ in Varsity. But there are as many girls, and JV? That means... at least they do a whole bunch of kids per heat on this one... but we're talking 6 or 7 heats of a race that takes probably 8 or 10 minutes per heat... OMG, this one event that stands between us and heading home will take at least an hour!

Yes, Will finished competing in the dark. Though I have to say, it was fun to see him running under the lights, in an event that he didn't usually do. And I'll never, ever forget the KBell... I'm a wiser sports mom now, thanks to that experience!

On the way home, we did the math. We had been there since 8 a.m. Left around 7:30 p.m. In that time, he had competed in 3 events... for a grand total of about... drumroll here... less than two minutes in total actually running on the track. That means I spent 11 hours and 28 minutes, out of 11 hours 30 minutes, NOT WATCHING WILL. Oh yes - and it's an hour and a half drive, too... each way!

So you can imagine that I forgave Will for the 6:30 start time today when he told me that he was only scheduled for one event! Praise the sports gods! We were there a short enough time for me to be sorry we were leaving already... well, somewhat sorry! A little bit... maybe...

Now, I do actually have a photo, and it's titled: I'd Rather Be Watching a Track Meet! This is what Satchel spent Sunday doing with his cousin Conner. Yipes! When he gets home, I ask if 1) he's in one piece, 2) my car is in one piece, and 3) his bike is in one piece. Thankfully, yesterday, the answer was yes to all three. He's planning to start downhill racing and I'm really not sure I'm looking forward to watching!

On the other hand, unlike in wrestling, no-one will be actively trying to hurt him... there will just be rocks, and bumps, and speed, and gravity!