Little Athletes

Last Saturday dawned bright and sunny to signify the start of the Little Athletics season. My deprived childhood meant that Little Aths was never an option for me, much to Natalie's disbelief. I plan to make up for it by projecting my own personal Little Aths dreams on my eldest daughter, and here was my first chance...

Nat was at work for the morning, so I took both Ella and Katy down to the Cook Oval, where hundreds of kids mill around each Saturday in identical T-shirts to run around in circles. The U6's do a program called "On Track" which involves more skills than running races. Ella learnt how to pump her arms while running, do two-footed jumps over skipping ropes and throw balls at a target (she preferred to target me rather than the cone). The day culminated in the excitement of a 50 m race (where Ella spent the whole race looking at the boy next to her to see if she would beat him).

Meanwhile, poor Katy was bored to tears and hot and bothered to match. So, she spent the entire morning putting on umpteen layers of suncream on her legs and was pretty grumpy by the end. I was a bit concerned this experience might turn her off the idea of running, but I needn't have worried. This morning Nat put Katy in the bike trailer and took her for a run which involved pre-school drop-off for Ella and a stop at the park for Katy. Leaving the park (which is near Jamison, about 800 m from home) Katy refused to get back in the pram, so Nat told her she would have to run with her. And, much to everyone's amazement, she grabbed the opportunity. It took a few bursts, and she ran out of puff about 200 m from home, but a good effort from a little tyke. Nat just managed to keep up with her, trying to video the whole thing while pushing the empty trailer and holding the dog...