Musing of a High School Father: I'm Getting Surly

No, not surly as in rude and bad-tempered, although I can be that. This Surly just happens to be the brand of my favorite beer which is brewed and only sold in Minnesota.

We will be having our eighth Ackerman family reunion this coming weekend in Charleston thanks to two speedy girls. Four trips each to Peoria and Charleston where the aunts and grandparents all come in for the festivities. Since my sister and her girlfriend, Kris, drive down from Minnesota, they can bring my favorite beer! I know this particular beer is not cheap but when I give my sister $100 to load me up, I am usually given between 12 and 14 beers. I was no math major at U of I, but this seems as if yours truly is getting the short end of the stick. I think I may be pitching in to fill her Prius tank too without knowing it. Anyway, it is well worth it. It’s making my mouth water as I type.

It is fun for everyone in the family to have these family gatherings centered around the state cross country and track meets. We all have our role. Anne and Kris supply the out of state beer (which I’m not sharing if you find us in the parking lot of O’Brien Field; this is a BYOB weekend), my mom and dad give me someone to be the focus of my jokes the whole weekend, and my sister, Amy, brings her mouth.

You see, Amy is still the ONLY voice my daughters have ever heard during the cross country state meet in Peoria; and that was when she was seven people deep on the course yelling for them. If you want an example, just open this YouTube clip of Courtney getting nipped by Lavinia Jurkiewicz of Whitney Young in the 2010 3,200 to hear my sis exercise her lungs in the 38th second.

We’ll stay at the lovely Ritz-Carlton in Tuscola which cleverly disguises itself as a Holliday Inn Express to keep a low profile. Why Tuscola? Because that is where my mother grew up; plus it was the only spot available when we booked freshman year, and we are creatures of habit.

We are all very fortunate that have been able to join together these past four years. In an ideal world, this talented class of 2013 runners would all be 100% healthy and we would all be treated to seeing Flanagan, Wolfe, Hardies, Fisher, Wasowicz and the other top-notch, podium regulars, seniors race one last time as high-schoolers at full strength trying to go out on top. Unfortunately, injuries happen a lot in this sport. Jessica has had a sore shin for over a month but she wasn’t about to let pain distract her once the gun sounded at our Sectional. She ran two great races (3,200 and 800) which she won with 13 minutes of rest in between the two to qualify. Emily Leonard of Maine South and Jackie McDonnell of Loyola also qualified in the 3,200 and 800 respectively.

Courtney took the pace out fast in the 1,600 and never took her foot off the gas. She won and qualified along with her teammate, Mimi Smith. Megan Lemersal of Maine South and Sarah Kelley of Loyola also qualified. New Trier won for their first ever Sectional title.

Courtney has a habit of always yawning at the starting line; and I always try to sneak a photo of her filling her lungs, getting ready to launch. She knows I like to try to take these photos, so usually she’ll turn away from me. Sometimes, I’m just too fast for her.

After the race, all of us near the finish line could tell that Megan Lemersal left it all on the track to qualify. Courtney was close enough to catch her future U of I teammate before she hit the deck. Remember, it is one big running family.

So, here we go to State, and as the Talking Head’s song asks, “Well, how did we get here?” I doubt there are a lot of young ladies out there that have intentions of being a great runner while they are in early grade school. Most play soccer, basketball, swim, etc., unless you live in Elmhurst. I have a picture in my head of Coach Joe Newton combing the local malls for the past 50 years approaching every pregnant woman he sees, asking her if she has a moment. Then, getting down on one knee, knocking on the woman’s belly, and in a loud voice, with his face next to the confused woman’s stomach, saying something to the effect of: “Hello; you in there! How would you like to be a runner when you grow up? What do you think about running 1,000 miles during the summer when you turn 12? Sound good? I’ll give you a cool tee shirt if you do.”

I would bet that these top distance athletes come from homes whose parents encourage healthy habits and lots of exercise from leading by example. Like Nike, we are a Just Do It family. Sometimes this meant pushing the envelope to find the breaking point.  On a family vacation to Maine when the twins were 9, we were told the best way to experience Acadia National Park was on bikes. Sounds good to us. It is a beautiful place, but it is not a flat ride. After about 25 miles, we were all ready for lunch. I said we’ll find a good picnic lunch spot when we get to the top of the next hill. The hill was BIG. We muscled our way to the top; Jess got off her bike, casually unsnapped her helmet, and then proceeded to smash it into the ground. As the helmet shattered, she stated, “I’m done!” We hit the breaking point; but created endurance monsters!

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