Busy Saturday! Kansas 3A State Cross Country Championship at Rim Rock, Road Trip to Ames Iowa to see Ghost Brothers of Darkland County!
Friday night we drove over and spent the night with my parents who live in Lawrence, as our daughter was going to be running in the 3A State Cross Country Championship out at Rim Rock, the cross country course for the University of Kansas. We got there early enough in the evening to go ride the last 2.5 mile portion of the South Lawrence Trafficway trail that we needed to ride to have covered the entire trail. This portion of the trail runs from the bottom of the hill where Wakarusa Road intersects Highway 10, to the west through the Clinton Lake overflow spillway. Not a very difficult ride. We just quickly got 5 miles in before it got dark.
Saturday morning we got up early and headed out to Rim Rock. For those of you who have never been there for one of these meets, it's quite an experience. I wanted to get out there early so I could walk part of the course that I had not made it to during previous meets. All you have to do is look at these pictures to see the beauty that is Rim Rock.
They run along this pond and up through the trees! Can you say Beautiful! (Yes, but that giant squid in the foreground is somewhat concerning........ ~~H)
First covered bridge on the course they run through
Second covered bridge on course that they run through
Nothing like a steep downhill with an immediate right hand turn!
Final steep hill before they loop back around to the finish line
Finish line where Champions are Crowned!
Part of the fan club!
The gun fired for the start of the girls 3A race at straight up 10 AM. Aundrea darted out to join the lead pack (Girl with Red Headband & Black Leggings) . She does not like to lead races, prefers to be a straggler in the lead group.
As they passed us in between the 1 mile and 2 mile point, she was in third place.
Notice she had already tossed her red headband off. Runner 422 in this picture came up to her after the race and returned her headband to her, saying her coach had picked it up when he saw her toss it off. :)
After this point the runners go over a hill and back into the trees and we really do not see them again until they top the crest of the hill that curves down into the finish. The announcer said that last year's defending champion was in the lead, just ahead of Aundrea. From my vantage point it looked like they were neck and neck. As they came around the curve my view was blocked for a bit and when they came back into view I saw that Aundrea had pulled out into the lead and it was growing!!
I have to be honest folks, I lost it at that point... :) The tears of joy started rolling down my cheeks! What a pleasure it is to see one of your children set such a lofty goal, put in the long hours of training, and accomplish their Goal! A very Proud Moment!
State Cross Country Champion! Time 15:47
Interviewed by WIBW the local TV Station for the 6 O'clock news!
Dad giving the champion a hug!
Top twenty medalists
Saturday, Part II:
My sweetie and I both are huge John Mellencamp fans. When we looked over the schedule of dates and locations for the play he collaborated with Stephen King to write, we discovered that today's performance on the Iowa State Campus in Ames Iowa was going to be closest to us that would fit into our schedule. So immediately after the awards ceremony, we hopped in our car, and headed north up I-35 to Ames. Took us a little over 4 hours, arriving there an hour and a half before the show. So we checked into our hotel, and headed to the Stephens Auditorium on the ISU campus. Upon arrival , based upon our tickets we were given and upgrade, because they did not want to open the balcony that our original seats were on. They moved us all the way up to the 5th row! We were also treated to free dessert and punch!
The show was Awesome! If your a JCM fan or a Stephen King fan, you don't want to miss this show. You can definitely see the influence of both in the play/musical. It was well worth the drive up there to see.
We waited to have dinner until after the play, so we had to settle for Applebee's because they would be open after 10. To tie into our bicycling blog, I did have to take a picture of the Fat Tire beer neon sign hanging in the restaurant!
We headed back to our hotel after eating to rest up for our next day's adventure! It was such a wonderful day, It took me awhile to get to sleep as I kept wanting to reflect on the events of the day!
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