The last weekend in October means Halloween and the XC State Championship race. I don't know if it was like this everywhere, but here on Halloween, on a Friday night, I hear so many people say they hardly had any trick-or-treaters. Even the radio DJ I listen to said, as opposed to 27 last year, they got 8 this year. I expected there to be more since it was on a Friday. Also, the weather here was pretty decent. A little chilly, but no rain, so that's saying a lot!
It was a different Halloween for us since Kade is in college now and probably would have gone trick-or-treating if he weren't. So he went to a couple of parties with some of his high school friends. He said that there were many cops around patrolling, and they even shut down a few parties for being too loud. Kade assured me he knew to be extra on guard because there were so many cops out. One actually pulled him over, not for any driving mishaps, but because the party they were headed to had just been shut down, and the cop perceived they were headed that way. The cop was complimentary of their music and costumes, so he was pretty chill. I'm just glad to hear they were keeping extra sharp that night, especially after the terrorist threat that occurred in Dearborn, just 20 minutes from us!
Kade was Chicken Joe from Surf's Up!
Austin had States the next day, so he went to Sam's with Owen and Jack, all runners at States, and they handed out candy to the 4 or 5 kids who showed up there. Sam's mom said none of them ate a piece of candy! Way to stay healthy, runners!
Austin, on his way to Sam's, let me take a quick pic without his MF Doom mask on.
We took Erik to trick-or-treat with friends. He had a blast and got way too much candy as everyone sensed the lack of candy collectors and dumped those who went with more. Since Jason and I went to the Kish's to have dinner and play cards, we left a basket of candy out with a sign. When we returned at 9, we still had half the basket left! Austin is happy and gladly claimed that for his own after the race.
Erik and his buds!
Jason and I had a blast with the Kishs and then got to visit with the Farnsworths, whose house Erik was at, on our way home. We didn't take hardly any pictures though, just had fun memories.
Saturday's meet wasn't too early, so Austin got to sleep in. He and his teammates rode a bus to MIS (Michigan International Speedway). Jason volunteered to drive the truck with the team tent, which worked out so well. Sam's dad drove with him, which was equally good since he's very tall and much stronger than me. That tent needs height and muscles to get it up! I rode a little later with Sam's mom, and we all agreed that we're volunteering for the tent job next year! It's a very long walk to the field from the parking lot, so having our truck on the field as a place to sit for warmth, or to store stuff, was so nice!
The race itself was a big improvement for Austin from last year's State meet. It really helped having a team there to support each other. Their team got to start on the very end, the same side they were to turn for the first turn, which was a benefit to us. Austin was determined to not get in a bottleneck, so he went out really quickly. Unfortunately, it may have been a little too quick for him, especially because he was in such a good spot that he couldn't see just how fast he was going out. So his first mile wore him out a bit, then his second mile was much slower than it should have been. For his 3rd mile, he got back in his groove, and the last .1 he passed a bunch of guys, per his usual style. In the video of him at the finish, I was yelling so loudly because I knew that he low-key wanted to get top 30, which was very possible for him, and I also had been counting the guys coming before him, so I knew he would have to pass more than 10 guys right there. He did so well and passed a few at the very end, but I think he was a little disappointed that he didn't get in the top 30. He got a 15:50 again, which is still 10 seconds off his PR, and still incredible considering he did have the flu last week. He placed 40th out of 253, so I say it was an outstanding race! Also, Sam had jokily said that he didn't want to wait around for Austin to claim his medal, so no one had to wait. More than just Austin can win one next year! Our team placed 15th out of 27 teams. We were very pleased! The team went to Subway afterwards, and then upon returning and showering, Austin joined some of his besties from his team and other friends from other teams who were at States for more food at Chili's. One kid ordered 6 Dr. Peppers! He got 7th at States, so I guess that's his secret!
It was so hard to get good pics as Austin was surrounded all the time!
Here's his finish, passing some of these guys!
All these pics are actually taken from the videos at the end. Then you'll see him in real action!
