Sep 30 2009
What’s Your Number?
Josiah’s cross country team hosted a meet yesterday. This meet was a bit of a surprise to the coach as there had been a small miscommunication between the coach and the athletic department. The coach found out about the meet a few weeks ago when other coaches began asking him about it. So, preparations for this meet were sparse.
The coach asked the parents of team members to help. Thinking “how hard can it be?”, I offered my assistance. I was assigned the task of writing down the race number of each student as they crossed the line. I was the backup in case the computer went down. This task may sound quite easy when you assume the students are wearing large numbers normally worn in a race.
However, because of the unexpected nature of this meet, the coach didn’t have regular race numbers. Each runner was given a small tag (1.5″ x 2″) with a number written on it. This tag was attached to a single pin.
The runners attached this number tag in all variety of places on their uniforms. My favorite was the team that pinned them in their pockets. Because I could not see hardly any of the numbers as they crossed the line, I was forced to ask 73 boys and 60 girls “What’s your number?”
Keep in mind at the end of a cross country race many runners are dazed, having trouble breathing, and in a few cases about to throw up. When the dry heaves start, I just back away and leave their space blank until they have recovered enough for Abby to find out what their number is.
I asked one kid “What’s your number?” and looked up to discover it was my own son. No time for cheering, no “Good job!”, no words of encouragement, no asking how he felt. There was a kid behind him. “What’s your number?”, I asked the next kid.
Next week is another home meet. Luckily, the coach knew about this one at the start of the year. There are 800 runners attending. I am sincerely hoping he has ordered actual race numbers for this event. Even if he has, with 800 runners, I may be a bit slower to volunteer.
