Shuttle Run

Normally I don't care one way or the other when the state cross-country meet is town. I think it's been held at The Ridges Golf Course some 15 years or so. As a passerby, I know it is a crazy zoo. There are thousands, yes thousands, of runners, coaches and fans who converge on Rapids. So we know what roads and stores (Wal-Mart, boo-hoo) to avoid during this Saturday each year.

Today, though, we got a taste of it!

My high school friend Julie, who lives south of Madison, was coming through town (from Eau Claire actually). Her daughter is on their school's cross-country team but due to an injury, didn't run much this fall and did not qualify for state. But she wanted to cheer her teammate on, so I said, "Why not park at our house and we'll shuttle you over to the meet? It's only 5 minutes from our house!"

Jim has a friend who was coming into town to cheer on his nephew. Jim hadn't see this guy for probably 20 years, so he said, "Why not park at our house and we'll shuttle you over to the meet? It's only 5 minutes from our house!"

It was kind of cool. They both said, yes, and we had a little shuttle service going.

Jim's friend, wife and daughter arrived first. I got to play sweaty hostess because I had just gotten back from a run when they arrived. No, I did not compete today and, after seeing these kids run, I wonder why I even try!

Anyway, Jim shuttled them over to see boys' races shortly after noon.

Julie and the girls got here right after that. I hadn't seen the girls in years. In fact, the last picture of Julie and I together with the kids was taken 10 years ago (with Carter squirming off my lap). So we took another group shot and headed for the meet.

I wanted to see just how crazy it was and I was not disappointed. For all the chaos among fans -- from crazy costumes to cow bells -- it was obviously a well-run event. I wasn't kidding about the thousands of people either. Very cool to be among concerned and supportive parents and friends cheering on their runner or runners. Julie's daughter's friend had a tough go of it, running with a wicked head cold, but she had a lot of teammates very proud of her. It was neat to be a part of it.

After we caught our "shuttle" home, Julie headed back to Madison and Carter and I headed to Plover to buy expensive basketball shoes. We all know how important good shoes are, right? Right. I'll keep telling myself that.

When we got home, Carter and I watched The Karate Kid movie -- the remake. It's no surprise I'm a huge fan of the original from the '80s. But I must say the remake was pretty good, too! Carter really, really liked them both and calls this one "inspiring." Not sure what it's going to inspire him to do, but I know it has nothing to do with running cross country any time soon.

It's fun to watch, though!