The middle school track team has been great fun for my 13-year-old daughter, especially the larger invitational meets. Rosa relishes the party atmosphere, the music (the Grateful Dead as “pump you up” music during two of the meets?!), the older kids and jaunty crowds. She begins to compare her race times and voices her goal for the 1600.
The friends decide to enter the Lizzie Haddon 5K in the verdant, town full of Victorian homes, Haddonfield, NJ. The place is a throwback; Haddonfield has an honest to goodness downtown where the kids play!
The evening before the race, Rosa is (happily) obsessing (the runners default activity); what’s in this goodie bag, what shall I wear (this inevitably leads to…I really need some new running clothes), and shall I use my iPod or not?
At the starting line of 239 people, the kids take in the communal, pre-race excitement. The girls take off and start to question (do only females ask themselves this?), “do I stay with my friends or surge ahead?–I’m feeling good.”
After the race, the girls enjoy a snack and discuss the ins and outs of the route. Later, I find my Runners World magazine on Rosa’s bed. She mentions that she is writing her science paper on “the runner’s high.” Rosa has caught the racing bug.
