John Stark (Sidehill Wampus) 10-4-23
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Hot weather, team running, sidehills…it’s the SIDEHILL WAMPUS! Wednesday we raced at John Stark (our must-beat team at States this year) and tested out pack running and sidehilling. With Thetford on Saturday, and the temperature hotter than a billie goat with a blowtorch, we took a different approach to racing and did not focus on time, instead focused on pack running and pacing.
The start made the groupings a little complicated, as we only got two on the line, separated by three other schools. By the time the racers exited the track however, Lily, Maddy, Kendra, Sydney, and Keira (recently promoted to “squad” status) had found each other, as had Emily, Nicole, Tessa, and Eliza. The GoPro found it’s way into Maddy’s hands soon after, and the rest of the first mile was filled with brief interviews, exclamations, and many refrains of “Lily, slow down!” Either Lily has a hard time not going 100% all the time, or she really didn’t want to be interviewed. Ever the competitor, Sydney was always a shadow by Lily’s side, moving forward until reprimanded by Maddy, returning to the group only to stretch off the front again. By the mile and a half the pack was running in about 12 place, while the second group didn’t really retain structure for more than the first half mile or so. Once released, Lily and Maddy steadily moved forward, catching everyone save the first two to finish 3rd and 4th. Sydney was her usual minute behind in 8th, while Keira and Kendra raced together all the way to the line only 24 seconds behind Sydney. Mission accomplished!
Emily, in her first race with magic slippers (spikes), ran surprisingly close to her PR with little effort, followed by a sub-30 run by Nicole. Tessa, nursing some foot pain, was next across, while Eliza ran her best paced race yet to finish 20th. Lydia finished 24th to wrap up the racing for MV. Everyone survived the heat and the sidehills once again, but Lily came pretty close to being devoured by the “mouth” at the weird rock art instillation. Emily of course literally just dove right through.