The Blanding Bugle

Volume 20 Issue 12

December 2011

In the Books

Another soccer season came to an end.  Jessie's team had a great season, taking second place in the final tournament. Getting there they had their first shoot out! Jessie was able to put her kick in from the mark! It was the winning kick.

Chris's team had an undefeated season. They outscored their opponents 4-1. Chris was an assist and scoring machine.  He even scored one from a corner kick.

Doreen had great help this year from some great assistant coaches for both teams.  It was a good thing too because both Chris's and Jessie's last games were at the same time.  She had to be with Jessie's team because her assistant coach had just left for a business trip.

Earlier, Doreen had told her teams that if they managed to score a goal off of a header she would buy them ice cream. Imagine her surprise when Chris' team actually pulled it off! She was more than happy to buy Chris's team Ice Cream at Theno's!

Eventually we put away the soccer balls, pennies, and wuzzies for another season. How long is it until April?

26.2 Miles of Cold and Wet

If you ask Doreen how the marathon was, she'll reply, "Very cold and wet."  She often runs in the cold and wet, but this time the wind blew and made it even worse.  "It was nice to run in my home town," Doreen added. "But the wind on the I90 bridge was killer.  Then there was that hill!"

Doreen ran from the Seattle Center to Mercer Island (yes across the floating bridge), then over to Seward Park and back to the Seattle Center. But the worst was the return run up Galer.  She lives on hills and runs them all the time "but nothing is like running a hill four hours into your marathon, especially since that hill feels like it goes straight up! And it just kept on going."

"When even the winners complain about the weather, you know it got to all of us, " she added.  "I was doing so well. I even managed the bridge with its sideways rain and wind but coming off the bridge I was so cold and wet.  The wind hit me straight in the face as we turned south and it took everything I had to keep on going.  My feet were so wet they were getting heavier with every step.  I tried to avoid as many puddles as I could but I soon gave up when the only way to avoid them was to run in the mud on the side of the road.  It was sidewalk to sidewalk water in some places."

"My knee started acting up at about mile 25 and I did a lot of walking to finish the race.  It was all down hill at that point but down hill hurts the worst when your IT band starts acting up.  And the wind! It seemed to never be at my back. It took my hat off a few times. But I managed to run as I crossed the finish line!"

Editor's note: she would have bought pictures, but they were $25 each! 

Jason's Senior Photos