Days with the Dorans

Last XC Banquet... So glad it was a "normal" year. What an amazing four years! Joey went from HATING XC to loving it and it was fun to see the transformation.  HERE is a video from the Banquet and what Coach said about Joey and then the entire team as well as some snapshots of things Joe got because let's face it... I'm not the best at keeping paper.

We were SO excited for States so piled into the car for the trek to Brooklyn, Michigan.  It was PACKED and we weren't sure where we were going but we dropped Joe off and he got with his team in plenty of time.  We found out that some of the boys had gotten into a car accident on the way but thankfully no one was hurt but it sure did rattle the nerves. The girls team also was at states which was cool. The girls ran first so I watched them kind of but it was hard to tell where to go to actually see the runners. There were so many fans that you really had to squeeze in. The good news was that there was a live tracker so I could see Joe's pace at one mile, two... etc. and I could see that he was setting himself up for a PR! Nana and Papa were there, the Doran cousins, TZ and Uncle Dan and of course all of us were there too! It was so exciting! Near the end Jeff got a video of Joey running and he had a bit of a kick putting him ahead of some of the runners! And he did get that PR!!...

Joey always tends to turn it on at the end of the season but what happened at regionals was still more than we could have ever imagined. It was a rainy cruddy day- so bad that they even had to change the course slightly. Regardless we were all there thinking that this was to be Joey's last race. Last year, he made regionals but wasn't allowed to run because dad had covid so this run felt extra special. There were a lot of runners and I kind of knew where to go because the girls ran first and I had seen where to go because I was watching Maddy with Jodie. Joe took off kind of where he usually does and then I ran to the first place where I could see him and I got my camera ready. I saw Will, our number one runner, and started my video and shockingly RIGHT after number two, there was our Joe! He's usually 5 or 6! I wanted to cry I was so excited. That's not an exaggeration... My lip trembled, my eyes watered and I started talking to God, Christie, Andrew, all of them prayi...

  Both of WLN's XC teams won the city meet and it was so much fun! Joey had a great race running on a tough course. We had to laugh since they totally butchered his name (you can see it HERE ). He had a great run but I forgot to write down his time and it's not in Athletic Net (grrrr...)

We were so lucky that we were able to watch Joey run in the County Meet. It was a tough course but he did great and the boys took 3rd in the county! (We have a TOUGH county).  We were so tired from being in Saginaw late the night before but watching my kid run really does fuel me (and so did the tea that Wendi brought me)! So proud of you Joe! Some videos from the county meet can be found HERE . A professional pic someone found and sent me! Coach and the Varsity Boys. Poor Will is injured!

Ok- So I get it... I am writing A LOT about Joey but I know that these days are coming to an end and I just don't want them to. Joe, you are going to need to meet someone in college to go to any race I can't get to and document it for me because watching you brings me soooo much joy! When you run a race and a non-runner says, "Did you win?" I always laugh because that is not really how it works. You run to beat yourself (though it does feel good to beat other runners) but on any given day, on any given course, anyone can win. So much goes into a run and sometimes it just all clicks and that is what happened with Joe on his first career WIN! He beat himself and he beat others! I'm a broken record. SO PROUD! Another quick video HERE .