The third week of MVXC practice traditionally brings our athletes the Watermelon Run. We can’t get together and run that event during the pandemic, but MVXC did try to honor that traditional milestone.
Using a 3km road course that avoided major street crossings–wheeled by Coach Flatow for down-to-the-foot accuracy!–17 athletes ran a time trial on the morning of Saturday the 5th of September. The athletes spread their runs out over three hours so the average was one athlete per 10 minutes or so, making the event safe and low impact on the neighborhood.
This is the first time in more than six months that these athletes were on a clock, and they ran the Watermelon Sorta time trial with no big groups of teammates by their sides and without cheering crowds. Nevertheless, some excellent times were reported. The first MVXC boy was senior Rohun Agrawal, who posted an excellent 8:46, with senior Andrew Richardson close behind at 9:27. Both these boys started solo and ran alone, making these times even more impressive; what could they do in the races we had pre-COVID and what will they do in the coming winter season? For the girls, senior Sylvana Northrop posted a stellar 10:21 mark, with junior Ellie Hsu and three sophomores Agnes Wang, Sydney Stevens and Avani Kalari all having marks within 18 seconds of each other not much later.
MVXC also saw some first-time runners join us, with a freshman and two basketball players joining the fun! This is really brave–it’s hard to get out and do something like this when the only way you have met the team so far is on Zoom. I’m so proud and happy for these kids. For the basketball players, this says a lot about their desire to really compete–they are clearly hungry to go out and challenge themselves.
All the marks can be viewed at the team’s training log. If you don’t have access, email coach. (Athletes–several of you emailed coach to say ‘thank you’ for organizing this race. You are welcome! If you really want to say thanks…please fill out your log on our Google sheet! You are helping your teammates, and seeing you reach out to help your teammates in little ways like this is the best way to say thanks to coach. Keeping up the daily log is a way to show coach that what we are doing is having a real impact on you!)
Later that day, we had a virtual Watermelon After Party on zoom–the team reviewed results, talked about the training season to come, ate some watermelon, and had a share circle that we would have had if not for COVID-19.
Team…I am so proud of you. Your ability to put in this kind of effort in the face of adversity like a pandemic is so inspiring. Your persistence and your grit will help you get through this pandemic, and will continue to carry you forward throughout your life. Let’s keep this up–together!