The D3 indoor track national championships meet was this weekend. I knew a few people participating, such as my teammate Claudia and my sister. As it is my sister’s senior year, my parents want to attend every one of her “lasts”, so they bought plane tickets to Nebraska and offered me the opportunity to go as well. I love my sister, and being almost 300 miles from her means that I don’t get to be there for many of her lasts, so I jumped on this opportunity. Also, I’m a bit of a track nerd, so it was exciting to be able to watch all of the people I’d been following on TFRRS run at such a high-caliber meet. The trip started, as most of my adventures this semester seem to begin, with snow. The morning of our flight to Nebraska was pretty wintry: it was about 28 degrees and flurrying in Hartford when I left. When I arrived in Nebraska, however, I discovered the spring was just a time zone away.

I was told that this is not typical of Nebraska at this time, but it was 67 degrees for the whole weekend. Chances are, I will never return to Nebraska to refute this impression, so I will always imagine short-sleeved runs, balmy evening strolls, and warm breezes when I think of Nebraska. It was outdoor track weather.

Speaking of track, the meet itself was even more extraordinary than the weather. When I returned to campus, I entertained my friends by giving them a blow-by-blow of my favorite races. The first involved a runner who got a 50 meter lead in the first few laps and never lost it, winning by almost 4 seconds; another involved a runner who got a 50 meter lead and kept it until the final few laps before losing it to an astonishingly super-human kick by a runner who had been in 4^th.

Both Claudia and my sister also ran well, with Claudia setting a new school record in the 5k with a 10^th place finish and my sister taking 5^th in the mile.

Claudia and coach after her race. Photo by me