Like last year, Daniel and David were able to compete in a cross country racing series conducted at Bellarmine High School in Tacoma.  On three consecutive Sundays, they raced against boys in private schools (the series is put on by CYO and includes all private schools in the area).  David ran against kids in third- through fifth grades; the course was a little over a mile.  Daniel competed with boys in grades six through eight on a course a bit over a mile and a half.  In the third race, David considered running with the older kids on the longer course, but he was suffering with a head cold and decided to stick with the shorter course.

David came away with three first-place finishes and plenty of good experiences.  Other strong runners congratulated him and he thoroughly enjoyed it.  Daniel also enjoyed it, but the competition was much tougher at that level.  He had some truly exciting races.  In the first race, he finished third and gained some good experience about racing on a tight course.  For the second race, he came out with a plan to stay in second for most of the race and then take over first at some point after half-way through.  This strategy worked well and he finished first against a very tough competitor.  The third race was also exciting, with Daniel using the same strategy.  This time, however, the other top runner had a bit more in the tank.  Although Daniel did take the lead, he was not able to hold it.  He finished in second.  After the race, he congratulated the other runner and they got to know each other and show mutual respect.  It was a great experience to be part of this competition.

Click the picture above to see more pictures from all three races (all in amazing weather).

The first video is a compilation from David’s races.

The next is from Daniel’s races. It’s a bit long because the entire third race is shown. It’s so exciting that we just couldn’t cut anything out.