Cross Country Update

Ryan has been running a lot this year! He is part of the varsity team & they set a goal back in May to run 500 miles per person over the summer. He got up early(ish) & ran at 7 or 8 a.m. every morning except Sunday. Once school started he continued running but now after school until about 6:00 every night - add homework & it's very busy. And he has extra mileage to log for the team & runs in between seminary & school.

Saturday was the Lake Murray Invitational. It has a reputation of being fast & flat & mostly paved - all good things. Ryan stuck with a few of his amazing teammates for the first mile and ended up running a 5K (3.1 miles) in 16:22. He took 13th place overall (hundreds of runners) & improved his PR (personal record) by almost 50 seconds. Even better, his team ran so fast that they took first place for the entire invitational. :)

Pictures:
1. Somewhere around the 1-mile mark - shady, paved trail - Coach H. knows the best spots at every meet so their team tarps are near this point.
2. The start is a figurative brawl - elbows flying & running as fast as you can to not get stuck in the corners or tripped up by someone else
3. Teammates - Sawyer, Zach, Marc, Charlie, Jeff, Ryan & Zach. Ryan & Zach (yellow shirt) are the only freshman.
4. Ryan approaching the finish line & giving 110% effort.
5. Ryan (tired) & Mom (happy).