USATF Cross Country Nationals 2007

Saturday was the USATF Cross Country Club National Championships in West Chester, Ohio. We drove down with my parents that morning and went to the Voice of America Museum before the race.

My dad is really into oddball museums. One time we went to a printing press museum in Massachusetts. We've taken forever-long tours of Hoover Dam and my little brother has fond memories of spending an entire day at the Ford factory. Voice of America was another museum in that category; it was a 250,000-watt radio station during World War II. We walked in and some 90-something-year-old man asked if he could help us. My dad said we wanted a tour. The man said they weren't giving tours that day. "What?! We drove four hours just for this!" Clearly, we hadn't driven four hours JUST for that. I was wearing running shoes, tights, a bright red Greater Boston shirt, and a running hat - and the race was going on just outside the museum. However, the guy said he'd see what he could do. A few minutes later, he led us to a room of folding chairs and a television that was as old as he was. He put on a 10-minute movie and left. And never came back. After the movie we helped ourselves and walked around the museum, checking out vintage radios, gadgets, and other transmitters. I think my parents' basement has more artifacts that could fit into this museum.

After our tour, we headed outside to the race. The whole course was extremely muddy. There were puddles a few inches deep in places. And just for fun, lines of hay bales were added to jump over. I saw three girls hobble off the course with sprained ankles during the race. My race was a 6K. My time was horrid. But it was a lot of fun. After my race, Bruce was feeling needy so I didn't get much of a cool-down. He clung to my hip and wouldn't let go. We watched my older brother in his race and then headed to the car.