RELAY DAY

23rd August 2010

So much for being in the Sunshine State, today was another bleak and showery day up here. We had to be up early to get to the Course for Jarrett to run at 9.10am, the skies were grey and thick clouds covered the sky, although the air was not as brisk as it normally is in Canberra, we had to wear jumpers.

Jarrett was feeling well today and perhaps his asthma attack was brought on by allergies which he often suffers from in Canberra but mainly from mid September to November however being in a different State the climate is so variable and in Brisbane their Spring seems to begin much earlier than it does in Canberra, so perhaps he should have taken some antihistamines a week prior to coming here. We will never know however whether it would have made a difference because you can't turn back time and change the past, even though I wish I could many times over. Jarrett was the fourth runner in the relay team, the first runner was Riley and he took off well running in fifth place, then Lachie took over he ran extremely well and brought the team up to fourth place, Ruben ran next, even though he ran well he came in in sixth place, Jarrett then flew off and made tones of ground, the next runner was another Riley and he ran strong but they still ended up sixth. It was a marvellous effort from all of them and Jarrett had a huge smile on his face because he ran the fastest time out of all the fourth runners, he needed a boost to his confidence after what happened on Saturday. He will have a couple of days off training now and then next Saturday will begin his track season training and I know that he is going to achieve incredible results.

The rain fell on and off lightly and then more fiercely throughout the morning which made it quite cold at first but later on it became extremely muggy. The event came to an end with the Closing Ceremony and no matter where any of the runners came they should be exceedingly proud of the fact that they represented their State and achieved their best. I am hoping that perhaps I may be able to be in the Cross Country as a disabled athlete next year and be able to feel as proud as all those athletes were that competed throughout the competition here. Next year the Cross Country Championships are in Canberra, at Stromlo that will be so marvellous perhaps our athletes will have home ground advantage.

I was ultimately tired by the end of the day and I broke down in tears, it had been a huge weekend, there had been disappointment when Jarrett had his frightening asthma attack but there had also been excitement to see Jarrett do so well in the relays. I have been resting and trying to recover, tomorrow we are going to meet Nana and Pop at North Lakes and do some shopping. If the weather improves hopefully we will be able to go for a swim in the tranquil lagoon at Settlement Cove.

My West Tigers have scrapped in again with a nail biting win against the Eels, it was a hard fought game with some unusual refereeing decisions but my Tigers prevailed and showed amazing determination to win.

'Even when your world seems grey and dull you can find a sparkle from within that will brighten your day as well as those around you.'