The Last Two Laps

Okay, I promised today we'd finish up with the chicken post in our "Meat Bird Trilogy," but we had another event that is not farm-related that I wanted to post about.  Tomorrow I'll finish up with our 2019 Cornish Cross Meat Bird Butchering - By the Numbers post.  I promise.

Benjamin is our senior.  He'll be graduating from a small country school in a couple of weeks.  He had an event tonight that we attended in Baton Rouge.  He does other things besides gathering eggs at home.  He runs track.  We enjoy watching him run.  Unlike his Dad, he is fast.  He has a nice long graceful stride and makes it seem easy.  It kind of makes me remember the quote from the movie, Chariots of Fire:

Eric Liddell: I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run I feel His pleasure.

Benjamin's race is the 800 meters.  He's qualified for the Louisiana High School State Championships in his freshman, sophomore, junior, and now, senior year.  With this being his final run, he wanted to finish strong.  Only one problem: In the district meet, he injured his hip flexor muscle in his leg running in the 4 X 200 meter relays.  We were worried that with the injury, he wouldn't qualify for State, but he ran through the pain at Regionals and finished second, but well off of his best time.

Over the week and a half period between the Regional and State Meets, Tricia took him to the chiropractor, he stretched, he rolled out and jogged.  He was down, being his last track meet and not feeling healthy, but he wanted to give it his best shot!  We were so proud to see him out for his final run on LSU's Outdoor Track and Field Stadium.

He stretched and warmed up in anticipation of the starter's gun.

It was a perfect day for a track meet, and I thought, quite an honor to make it to this meet.  The stadium was full with people from all over the state, cheering on their competitors as the late afternoon sun cast long shadows on the track.

The runners approached the starting line, nervously stretching and jumping.  There were 9 competitors in the 800 meter run, many of which Benjamin has come to know over the past four years of competition.  It was exciting to see Benjamin's name on the board in lane 6.

On your mark, set... and the starter's gun was fired.  The runners blazed out of their starter's positions.  To me, the 800 meter run is a hard race.  It is a two lap sprint, physically demanding, grueling and with strategy as runners jockeyed for position.  Benjamin broke out in the lead, looking real sharp for the first 300 meters.  Then I could sense around the far curve that he was struggling.

He was determined though, and finished the race strong as I yelled loudly along with Tricia and my Mom & Dad, urging him on to the finish line.  Benjamin's personal best time in the 800 meters during his high school career was 2:06 and in the State Championship run tonight, he finished fourth with a time of 2:08.61.

He was disappointed that his injury prevented him from doing as well as he wanted to, but of course we are so proud of him.  He did fantastic.  Fourth in the state in his class is quite an achievement.  I never did anything as noteworthy as that in my life!  As he finished his final two laps, Tricia looked over at me in a bittersweet moment and said, "It's over.  This is the last track meet and in two weeks, he'll graduate."  In the hour and a half drive home tonight, I thought about the prospect of our up-coming empty nest.  This particular race may be over, but there are plenty of other finish lines ahead.  Keep your eye on the next finish line and keep on running, Benjamin!