Summer Games were quite an experience and Seth did great through the whole thing. The heat was intense and we have the sunburns to prove it. Actually, I kept sunscreen on Seth pretty well, but I forgot about the backs of the knees on both of us. I let myself get a little color before putting on sunscreen, and I may have miscalculated just a tad. = ) I have a lot of pictures and I will try to chronicle our weekend here but there was so much that it may take a while to read if I write about everything. Check out the pics and videos on Picasa.
Getting in -- For whatever reason, I am terrified of military bases, so for me to navigate Fort Lewis was a huge step. There was a little excitement as I entered the North Fort gate, I heard a radio call from one of the guards announcing that two MP's were coming their way Code. The guards scrambled and quickly moved the two lanes of cars into one lane. No sooner was this accomplished and two MP's with lights and sirens went flying by. Nothing like a smooth transition to play on my phobia! After I was through, I (not surprisingly) got lost. Good thing I had arrived early to account for my lack of navigation skills. Finally I found registration and received directions to where the rest of the team resided.
Dinner and Opening Ceremonies -- Our group headed to dinner at the local mini-mart/food court that is not far from the barracks. Here Seth found an ad for a vampire movie (Rated R - won't be having it!) and this started a weekend-long teasing between he and Coach Steve about vampires and vampire movies.
Opening ceremonies were held at Hangar 1 at McChord Air Force Base. It is amazing how well orchestrated this event is and the encouragement for the athletes was overwhelming. Our group was welcomed by a volunteer who then escorted us into the hangar while a line of welcoming volunteers clapped, whooped and hollered for our athletes. Seth was a little surprised and I'm not sure he realized what it was all about but it was really cool. We were then escorted to a waiting area with other athletes from our area (swimming, soccer, etc.). This was the beginning of a rather long wait in the setting sun. Part of our boxed in area was in the shade so we all huddled there. Luckily, I had remembered my little fan - this was a big hit! When the time finally arrived to enter the opening ceremonies, the walkway was lined with about a 100 MP's and local law enforcement giving high fives, handshakes and pats on the back to every athlete. Our team was announced and the enthusiasm was as genuine for the first team through as it was for the last. The rest of the ceremony consisted of guest note speakers from McChord, Special Olympics and the coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
Saturday -- Seth's first event was the softball throw. They have volunteers that escort the athletes from marshalling to the event - since this was his first experience with marshalling, he was a little apprehensive. There was a teenage boy as the next escort in line and the person taking him in at marshalling asked Seth if he would prefer to walk with a girl. Of course, that brought a big smile for Seth, as well as the teenage girl escort. They had a great time getting out to the waiting tent and it was a good ice-breaker for Seth. Unfortunately, I did not get a chance to get her picture. You will have to check out the pictures (and videos) on Picasa to see Seth's softball throws, but he ended up with the gold medal in this event.
The relay that was supposed to start at 3:30, did not get started until after 6:00 so it made for a very long day. Seth participated in the 4x100 relay with Linda, Aibra and Sarah. They ran a good race and came in 4th. Seth ran better than his average on his leg and we were pleased that they came in 4th because the competition was really good. Everybody did great!
Since the relay ended so late, we did not get out of Cowan Stadium until 6:45, the dance started at 7:00 at McChord. Nobody had eaten anything since about noon so we were all starving, hot and tired. Seth first said that he didn't want to go to the dance or do anything that night, but I knew that a little air conditioning and food and he would change his mind. Sure enough, after a Quiznos sandwich, a soda and a lot of air conditioning, he was ready to go. At the dance, he didn't want anything to do with dancing, but he did find the dunk tank which was staffed with teenage volunteers from a youth conference and he had great fun dunking the pretty girls. You will have to check out the videos on Picasa to see how much fun he was having.
Sunday, we did not have to get up as early because Seth's events were not until 11:15 and 11:45. He did the 50m dash and immediately afterwards did the 200m walk. I was so intent on getting him pulled from the awards waiting area and getting him down to the marshalling for his next event, that I forgot to take a picture of him going across the finish line in the 50m dash. It was a close one too and he did great!
Here's a breakdown of his awards:
Softball Throw - Gold
4x100 relay - 4th Place
50m Dash - Silver
200m Walk - Silver
I cannot begin to describe how well planned this event is. I guess they have been doing this for 30+ years and certainly have it down by now but it was very impressive. There are literally 2,500+ volunteers of all ages and I commented to Coach Steve on Sunday how I never saw a single one get ruffled or snippy -- not one. In fact, they were all so encouraging and thoughtful and downright happy, it was just incredible! I have the utmost respect for all of the volunteers, officers, Special Olympics and Army/Air Force personnel who pulled off this event! Thank You!
.JPG)
