Sometimes last is first.....
The mini-goddess has found another love in thowing shot put and discus. She is placing first and second in all her meets in shot put and loves it. In middle school, you choose three events so she has also been doing long jump. She has the "jump" part down but not necessarily the "long"!
With the last regular meet of the season approaching, the running coach came to the mini-goddess and asked her if she would do him a favor. One of her friends who is extremely short and a bit "round" had been running, or attempting to run the 400m. As hard as she tries, she runs out of breath and her short, little legs fail her and she falls short of finishing the race. The coach asked the mini-goddess, who is not so far a runner but a truly strong athlete, if she would give up the long jump and run the 400m in the lane beside this girl. He asked her to jog the whole race right beside her teammate and encourage her to finish, talking her to the finish line.
I was not surprised that the mini-goddess agreed as she is very team oriented and cooperative. I did, however think that she may have reservations, knowing that middle school kids can be very icky and sometimes make fun of slow runners that fall behind or get lapped in the longer races. Well, she agreed whole-heartedly and made it her mission to get her friend over the finish line.
So, it was the day of the race and the runners lined up. The mini-goddess and her friend were "ahead" in the two outside lanes, too soon to be overtaken and passed by all of the runners before the second turn. It was truly a sight, the smaller girl with her short, stout legs spinning and the mini-goddess jogging comfortably along, talking to the girl the whole way. As they made the third turn, after all the other runners had finished, spectators along the way could hear her encouraging words, "Come on! You can do it! Just breath! Follow me! I won't let you stop!" and they joined in with clapping and cheering. As they made the fourth turn, the coach ran along the grass, cheering them on. At the finish line, there were high-fives and the girl's mom in tears, as she said to the mini-goddess, "Thank you! You made my daughter's dream come true!"
To the mini-goddess: Second place in discus-cool! First place in shot put-awesome! Last place in the 400m-priceless! Of all the times you have made me proud...this one gets a blue ribbon!!!