Last is a Place

Owen is the child in the red shirt.

Kindergarten Cross Country Meet

Fall 2006



      Our lives this fall have revolved around Cross Country.  Joel is coaching and Owen is running and Sarah and I are attending the meets and cheering on the team and helping tote and schlep and do whatever else we need to do to try to keep the Sunday afternoon races running smoothly.  My main job has been to stand under the tent and yell at kids to "cut it out." It's a multi-purpose phrase that works well in a variety of situations. This is Joel's first year as the head coach of the cross country team and Owen's fifth year running.  Owen is doing great this season and finished his last one mile race with a PR of 7:21.  Joel has done a fabulous job coaching and attributes all of his success to "setting low expectations."  (Those are his words, not mine).

     Owen first participated in cross country when he was in Kindergarten.  He was five years old and looking back on it now it was kind of ridiculous that we "encouraged" him to run.  He wasn't ready.  He hadn't found his competative spirit - heck, he couldn't even tie his own shoes.  But, encourage we did and Owen finished his first CC meet in something like 36th place - right in the middle of the pack.  By the time his third CC meet rolled around, Joel and I were kind of hopeful that Owen was getting the hang of running and competing.  He started the race with the rest of the pack and as he disappeared over the hill, we (Joel and I) were left to wait anxiously until he came back into view again to run towards the finish line.  The minutes dragged by and while hoards of other children reappeared and crossed the finish line, there was no Owen. Eventually, we saw him pop up over the top of the hill.  He was run/walking in sort of a zig-zag pattern across the course and he certainly didn't seem to be in any hurry to finish.  Joel and I started cheering for him but he was still so far away we knew he couldn't hear us.  As he meandered toward the finish line, kids continued to pass him.  Joel and I screamed for him to pick up the pace . . . he slowed down.  As he got almost to the finish line a wave of relief washed over me because there were still three kids behind him and I took some comfort in the fact that at least he wouldn't finish last.  And then Owen stopped running.  He just stopped.  While he stood there - only feet from the finish line -  those three kids that were behind him ran right past him. Only then did Owen start jogging his way across the finish line.  He finished in last place.



Sarah. The day her brother finished last.
She didn't care.

As we rode home with a fairly content Owen in the back seat (and oymygosh how could be content because he just finished last!!!), Joel and I were wondering what the heck just happened out there on the cross country course?  How had Owen managed to finish in last place?  What the two of us didn't know was that Owen had finished in last place on purpose - because "last is a place" he explained to us, just like first is a place.  He knew from the moment the race started that he wanted to finish in last place and he worked really hard to make sure that happened. Of course, we all look back on this now and laugh - even Owen, who no longer thinks that last is the place he wants to be.