Running his age
Another last yesterday. Paul ran his last Lakeville meet at Aronson Park.
Fun story about Aronson Park: Couple years ago, maybe the first time Paul ran in the Lakeville meet, I drove to the park to see him run, but it was jam packed and I didn't know where to park. The Lakeville police were directing traffic, and, as I missed the turn into the crowded parking lot, I glanced at the cop. He looked just like my cousin Jurgan. I knew Jurgan was a volunteer officer for the Lakeville police, so I got myself turned around and drove back over to the entrance to the parking lot. And sure enough, my cousin was directing traffic! I slowed down to say hello and he was surprised to see me. We chatted for as long as we could while I was driving at 10 mph, then I had to go park.
I never know when I'm going to run into a Talberg cousin! They are all over the place.
So Paul ran. I didn't see the start of the race because I had positioned myself elsewhere to get a picture, but Julie B said that he was stuck in the back for the first mile. She told me she was worried about him because he's usually in the first third. But then she said once the first mile was over, he kicked it into high gear and cruised up to where he usually was. When he got to me, he was the first Laker and he looked to be in high spirits.
After he toddled past me and my camera, I hustled my own self over to the finish line to get a picture from a different angle.
When he came into the chute at the finish line, he had dropped back to the third Laker, but as I watched him finish, I saw the clock. It read 17:36. He had finished 28 seconds faster than he had ever finished before.
He was very pleased with his race. The coach was very pleased with all his varsity boys runners because out of seven, six ran the 5k in under 18 minutes (usually one or two will go under 18).
Paul said that he hung back at the beginning to save some energy for the end of the race and when he neared the end, he heared cheering for an Eagan runner, so he knew the guy was close behind. That cheering prompted him to speed up at the end. He also said he was disappointed at first when the other two Lakers passed him but when he got to the end and saw the race clock, his disappointment turned to extreme happiness (I couldn't tell by looking at his face. He kept his happiness well hidden) as he realized he was going to get a new personal record, shattering his old PR by a very healthy half a minute.
Yay for Paul! I am very glad that I was there. Even though it was cold and I forgot a jacket.
Fun story about Aronson Park: Couple years ago, maybe the first time Paul ran in the Lakeville meet, I drove to the park to see him run, but it was jam packed and I didn't know where to park. The Lakeville police were directing traffic, and, as I missed the turn into the crowded parking lot, I glanced at the cop. He looked just like my cousin Jurgan. I knew Jurgan was a volunteer officer for the Lakeville police, so I got myself turned around and drove back over to the entrance to the parking lot. And sure enough, my cousin was directing traffic! I slowed down to say hello and he was surprised to see me. We chatted for as long as we could while I was driving at 10 mph, then I had to go park.
I never know when I'm going to run into a Talberg cousin! They are all over the place.
So Paul ran. I didn't see the start of the race because I had positioned myself elsewhere to get a picture, but Julie B said that he was stuck in the back for the first mile. She told me she was worried about him because he's usually in the first third. But then she said once the first mile was over, he kicked it into high gear and cruised up to where he usually was. When he got to me, he was the first Laker and he looked to be in high spirits.
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| See the smile? |
When he came into the chute at the finish line, he had dropped back to the third Laker, but as I watched him finish, I saw the clock. It read 17:36. He had finished 28 seconds faster than he had ever finished before.
Paul said that he hung back at the beginning to save some energy for the end of the race and when he neared the end, he heared cheering for an Eagan runner, so he knew the guy was close behind. That cheering prompted him to speed up at the end. He also said he was disappointed at first when the other two Lakers passed him but when he got to the end and saw the race clock, his disappointment turned to extreme happiness (I couldn't tell by looking at his face. He kept his happiness well hidden) as he realized he was going to get a new personal record, shattering his old PR by a very healthy half a minute.
Yay for Paul! I am very glad that I was there. Even though it was cold and I forgot a jacket.
Comments
Way to go, Paul! He sure does look happy in the first picture. It's hard to tell in the second since it's the side of his head. But his hair looks happy. It looks like he's actually skipping in that picture.