Day 1 of Racing

This morning I awoke to a frantic rush by Tom to the restroom.  This had been an occurrence throughout the night.  I felt really bad for him because as he put it "we have been here a week trying to just have practice then waste the day now the races start and I get sick".  I really hope he gets better soon and I know you all do also.  Almost every member of the team asked me separately about how Tom was and why he wasn't here.  I think they really like that he speaks Lao well, that and the beard.  Sirivan called me early on in the day and told me what the schedule was so at 12:45 I headed out to the stadium.  Luckily right after I arrived I saw Sirivan and she gave me an updated schedule and we shot the breeze.  I did not see my team and I was surprised when we got dangerously close to the prospective starting time for the track and field opening ceremonies.  Sirivan called No and it turns out he forgot all about the opening cermony.  The only team that was late was LP.  This opening ceremony was a miniature version of the games opening ceremony.  The teams all walked to a spot on the track and stood in groups behind their sign.  LP was filled in with so kids from another district.  Some speeches were given then Sitisai(head of Laos track and field a nice guys who I know) read off the schedule of events. The teams walked off and we were on our way. LP showed up in the middle and a few ran over to line up behind the LP sign.  No one seemed to care.  The first race was scheduled to start at 2:30 so when 2:45 came up we got rolling with heats of the 100m.  By this time it was absolutely baking probably over 90 degrees and humid.  My guys didn't perform how either I or they would have hoped.  I might have one guy going to the finals though.  The girls on the other hand surprised me with some really good performance and atleast one should be heading to finals.  Next up was the 400m.  Same case with my guys they ran well but I know they could do better.  The case was the same with the girls they ran above my expectations.  I should have 1 going to finals.  Thu a converted 800, 1500 runner ran 70 and Bonnie one of my girls who is always injured ran a 71.  I am not sure Bonnie ever finished a 400 in workouts so this blew my mind and hers.  After I told her her time she gave me a big hug and pored water on me (inadvertently).  The smile on her face made me forget all about the results because for this time in their lives they are celebrities, pro athletes and living the dream. They are spoiled the way every athlete dreams of.  A few months all you have to do is train and we will give you free warm ups, shoes, spikes and you get introduced as a representative of your district.  Just Awesome!  While the 400m's were going one men's long jump was which I found out that we did have any good results.  No worries.  The 1500m finals followed and pre-race I tried to stress go out easy and then get faster.  We had 2 men in a field of about 30 which is way to many for one heat but what can you do.  The more talented of the two followed the plan and ran a really smart race finishing just out of the medals whereas the other didnt listen and got 8th not bad but I know he could do better.  The girls got the same game plan from me as the guys.  Same situation 2 runners in a big field although I think smaller than the guys.  After 1 lap one of our girls had a 50m lead over the rest of the field.....not the game plan.  One of the girls she was racing competed for Laos at the South East Asia games so I knew this would end poorly.  After 3 laps she still maintained that large lead but it was starting to dwindle as her energy did.  She did a few things that made me want to kill her most importantly she kept looking over her shoulder.  She ended up getting 3 a great result and we were super proud of her(although she almost got passed at the line) while her teammate dropped out at the 1000m mark.  Afterward we all hung around and played some cards while waiting for the bus back into town.  Fun group that I am afraid I will never see again when this week is over.
Overall it was a good intro to racing for a lot of these people and I hope that they can run smart races and win some more medals.

 Everyone in there lines as speeches are given from under the Pepsi umbrella.

 The entering procession.

 The team looking on from our camp at the of the long jump pit.  Notice the bikes parked in the stadium.

 The 100m girls always happy to have me around.

 Bonnie after the race before that bottle ended up on me.

Straight pimp from one of the 400m guys at the end of the day waiting for the bus.