Question of the year:
Asked by freshman Vincent “Delz” Neth:
If all of the disciples fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane, how does anyone know what really happened?
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
When the Saints go Marching In.
Track and Field Day has come and gone in a flurry of excitement. Tuesday was the “marathon” and by marathon I mean a 10 mile run up and down the streets downtown for the gentlemen and about a 6 mile run for the ladies – which for a high-schooler is a considerable distance. So Monday night the coaches threw a pasta and Gatorade party for the distance squad up in the faculty lounge, and the rest of the boys threw a rowdy pep rally to get the athletes psyched up. The ladies stayed up on campus for the evening for the sake of convenience since we all had to be awake at 3:30 AM to head down to the race.
It is only my first experience in coaching, so I suppose I can consider it a rookie mistake – but in order to be able to watch the race and get split times, I decided to ride a bike down and follow the runners. Riding in the headlights of the pickup behind me, I met the team down at the field. Needless to say I was not in the truck with the runners as they drove down and took for granted that they knew how to prepare for the upcoming race…..
So we warm up, stretch and I take a look at the starting line. T-shirts, spray-painted colors, shorts to the knees, flip-flops, bare feet – whistle. I take off for about 2 miles down the road and stop to cheer them on as they go by – 2 of them pass by looking strong - but my 3rd runner was uncharacteristically way behind and isn’t running like himself but says he’s fine…..the race goes on….and one of my runners punks and drops out – which I should have expected (yeah still bitter!) and my other runner finishes the race in 7th place – oh but not before he runs up along side my bike and hands me the socks that he’s been wearing for about 9 miles. If you know me than you might know how uncomfortable “feet” or anything pertaining to feet makes me…………if that is not an indication of how much I love these kids – I’m not quite sure what is – because I would not just put out my hand in that situation for anyone!!
Joshua (7th) crosses the line grabs some water and disappears while we wait for Thaine who comes chugging along a few minutes later. They say hindsight is 20/20 and unfortunately it was not until the race was over that I could look back and put all the pieces of my errors together to complete the picture. Perhaps the story is more elegantly told my the runners themselves who returned to school and shared it very candidly with the rest of their sophomore classmates:
Thaine: “Well it was a lot of fun, but as soon as I started the race I really had to waste. Really badly. So I ran all the way to Blue Lagoon and back (about 6 miles) and then I saw Deacon (our Dean of Students) and he found a banana leaf for me. So I stopped on the side of the road and wasted. And that was my experience.”
<>>>
Joshua: “My experience was pretty much the same as Thaine. As soon as the race started I really had to waste, but I ran anyway. There’s a saying in Yap ‘you haven’t done your best until you shit in your pants’ and that’s just about what I did. I ran the whole race and as soon as I finished I had to run and find a bathroom.”
Joshua is one of the most intelligent, and quietest students in the class – and believe me I was JUST as shocked…. So it turns out that on the truckride down, all three of the gentlemen had indulged in some expired mango juice. I stupidly forgot to grab some bread or something for them, and so they resorted to the only alternative. If you’re ever run straight after drinking juice you can empathize – and now multiply that by the number of days expired your juice is and you get the picture!! Lesson learned - and a mistake to fix for next year!!
The team scores after the Marathon were Southern Namorias – 53; Chuuk High- 20 and Xavier- 17 most of those 17 points came from the ladies who did very well and took 3rd, 8th and 9th!! However the marathon was not the only place where the ladies sparkled!!
I recruited two of my basketball girls from the the Saints – class of ’09 - to run the 8 lap run. After a looooott of coaxing they finally agreed to do it and trained sporadically throughout the past few months. Friday - you have to picture an open grass field – which in the middle of the day with no coconut trees or any shade for that matter can be blistering!! It’s less than 200 meters around and the corners are near 90 degree angles. The race begins and I see two red basketball uniforms tearing off around the field - one bearing the name Yamase and the other Trunce!! J They jump out to an early lead, and while most were a little concerned that they were unaware of exactly how many laps they had to run….. they looked strong so I pushed them….they maintained the lead for about 6 laps until green and orange shirts start to close in on them. The footsteps behind them only incites further determination and neither yield to the pressure. I turn at this point to the Xavier crowd behind me who is glued to the race and I tell them that they need to help their girls get through this race. “When they come around again – you get your butt off the ground and cheer your face off!!!”
As the girls head into the last lap, a red mass has vacated their comfortable shade of the tent and has flooded the field. Feeling the electricity from their classmates, Nikki and Sarah begin their final kick. Nikki opens stride and gains a few steps while Sarah still struggles behind green and orange. Nikki flies around the last turn and Sarah close behind in a moment of insanity, or of pure mental toughness refuses to take 2nd to anyone other than her teammate. She pushes her body until the green recedes from her peripheral vision and collapses across the line.
………….Perhaps the only 1......2 finish of the day. I couldn’t have been more proud!! I walk the girls off the field and back to the tent escorted by the melodious chants “Oh when the Saints….go marching in…….”
It is only my first experience in coaching, so I suppose I can consider it a rookie mistake – but in order to be able to watch the race and get split times, I decided to ride a bike down and follow the runners. Riding in the headlights of the pickup behind me, I met the team down at the field. Needless to say I was not in the truck with the runners as they drove down and took for granted that they knew how to prepare for the upcoming race…..
So we warm up, stretch and I take a look at the starting line. T-shirts, spray-painted colors, shorts to the knees, flip-flops, bare feet – whistle. I take off for about 2 miles down the road and stop to cheer them on as they go by – 2 of them pass by looking strong - but my 3rd runner was uncharacteristically way behind and isn’t running like himself but says he’s fine…..the race goes on….and one of my runners punks and drops out – which I should have expected (yeah still bitter!) and my other runner finishes the race in 7th place – oh but not before he runs up along side my bike and hands me the socks that he’s been wearing for about 9 miles. If you know me than you might know how uncomfortable “feet” or anything pertaining to feet makes me…………if that is not an indication of how much I love these kids – I’m not quite sure what is – because I would not just put out my hand in that situation for anyone!!
Joshua (7th) crosses the line grabs some water and disappears while we wait for Thaine who comes chugging along a few minutes later. They say hindsight is 20/20 and unfortunately it was not until the race was over that I could look back and put all the pieces of my errors together to complete the picture. Perhaps the story is more elegantly told my the runners themselves who returned to school and shared it very candidly with the rest of their sophomore classmates:
Thaine: “Well it was a lot of fun, but as soon as I started the race I really had to waste. Really badly. So I ran all the way to Blue Lagoon and back (about 6 miles) and then I saw Deacon (our Dean of Students) and he found a banana leaf for me. So I stopped on the side of the road and wasted. And that was my experience.”
<
Joshua: “My experience was pretty much the same as Thaine. As soon as the race started I really had to waste, but I ran anyway. There’s a saying in Yap ‘you haven’t done your best until you shit in your pants’ and that’s just about what I did. I ran the whole race and as soon as I finished I had to run and find a bathroom.”
Joshua is one of the most intelligent, and quietest students in the class – and believe me I was JUST as shocked…. So it turns out that on the truckride down, all three of the gentlemen had indulged in some expired mango juice. I stupidly forgot to grab some bread or something for them, and so they resorted to the only alternative. If you’re ever run straight after drinking juice you can empathize – and now multiply that by the number of days expired your juice is and you get the picture!! Lesson learned - and a mistake to fix for next year!!
The team scores after the Marathon were Southern Namorias – 53; Chuuk High- 20 and Xavier- 17 most of those 17 points came from the ladies who did very well and took 3rd, 8th and 9th!! However the marathon was not the only place where the ladies sparkled!!
I recruited two of my basketball girls from the the Saints – class of ’09 - to run the 8 lap run. After a looooott of coaxing they finally agreed to do it and trained sporadically throughout the past few months. Friday - you have to picture an open grass field – which in the middle of the day with no coconut trees or any shade for that matter can be blistering!! It’s less than 200 meters around and the corners are near 90 degree angles. The race begins and I see two red basketball uniforms tearing off around the field - one bearing the name Yamase and the other Trunce!! J They jump out to an early lead, and while most were a little concerned that they were unaware of exactly how many laps they had to run….. they looked strong so I pushed them….they maintained the lead for about 6 laps until green and orange shirts start to close in on them. The footsteps behind them only incites further determination and neither yield to the pressure. I turn at this point to the Xavier crowd behind me who is glued to the race and I tell them that they need to help their girls get through this race. “When they come around again – you get your butt off the ground and cheer your face off!!!”
As the girls head into the last lap, a red mass has vacated their comfortable shade of the tent and has flooded the field. Feeling the electricity from their classmates, Nikki and Sarah begin their final kick. Nikki opens stride and gains a few steps while Sarah still struggles behind green and orange. Nikki flies around the last turn and Sarah close behind in a moment of insanity, or of pure mental toughness refuses to take 2nd to anyone other than her teammate. She pushes her body until the green recedes from her peripheral vision and collapses across the line.
………….Perhaps the only 1......2 finish of the day. I couldn’t have been more proud!! I walk the girls off the field and back to the tent escorted by the melodious chants “Oh when the Saints….go marching in…….”
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