Flashes of Panic

Admittedly, not quite your typical all-comers meet.

• “Name” spotting: “Isn’t that so-and-so?”
• Overhearing one certain voice in the cheers for the open 3,000m: “Go Daddy!”
• How many of the athletes in the “unseeded” sections start their own watches at the beginning of their races, even though the event has FAT (Fully Automatic Timing)?
• “It’s nice to get that over with. Where’s my beer?” (That may not have actually been what the athlete in question said, but that’s what we heard.)
• Seeing a runner who’s been below-par for about seven years show flashes of old form (and run a really fast time.)
• Watching the athletes revolving the track in cool-down packs in the half-light after the last event. (Can I string a few more prepositional phrases on this?)
• Olympians doing quick-changes in the back seats of cars.
• American Record holders standing by the side of the track cheering with everyone else.
• The collegian’s entire family (and this is an extensive blended family) turning up. Stepfather on the phone with mother and relaying developments down to Florida.

It is nice to go to a meet and not be working.

Now playing: Pendulums from All of Our Names by Sarah Harmer