Living With Lab Mice Chapter 224: Track and Field

Justin decided to register for Special Olympics track and field so on the morning registration opened, he filled out the registration form online.  He then told Pinky and Brain about it.

"Egad, are you sure you can fit it in?" Pinky asked.  Justin nodded.

"I did get a good jump on my assignments and I'm almost finished with a good chunk of them," he pointed out.  "Plus spring break is coming up."

"That's true," the Brain said.  He then grinned.

"If flag football is any indication, you're going to do well with track and field."

"It will help me get faster," Justin replied with a wink.  With that the three friends went to watch some television.  Later, while making some final tweaks to each of his assignments, Justin let his dad know about track and field and his dad was more than happy to take him to practice.

"So practice is going to be at this private high school," Justin explained.  "It's supposed to have a really nice track and field facility though."

"Any idea what events you're going to do?" the Brain asked.  Justin pondered this for a minute.

"Probably the 100 meter dash, the running long jump and the 4x100 relay," he answered.

"What other long jump event is there?" the Brain asked.  Justin frowned.

"You know Special Olympics gives athletes with disabilities of all different athletic abilities to compete," he said.  "So there's also a standing long jump event for those who might have a tougher time with the running long jump."

The Brain sighed.  "I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to sound mean."

"It's okay," Justin replied.  "You'll see later on at the meets.  Oh I am definitely going to need new running shoes for this."

So the three friends went to Kohl's and Justin found some running shoes that fit him comfortably.  After another busy week of school, the weekend of Justin's first track and field practice arrived.  By eight-thirty on Sunday morning, Justin's dad arrived to pick Justin up.  So after filling some water bottles and after Justin took his inhaler and put on his new running shoes, the three friends went to the private high school.

"Did you know that track and field actually has a state championship?" Justin's dad asked.  Pinky and the Brain blinked.

"No we didn't," the Brain remarked.  Justin grinned.

"It's kind of weird though," he said.  "See, California is so big, for the sake of the state championships, we had to divide it up into two states: Northern California and Southern California.  So, depending on how you do at the Spring Games competition, and this applies to swimming, tennis and bocce, you get to compete in the State Summer Games at UC Davis."

"Huh," Pinky remarked.  "So depending on how you do this year, you could qualify for state?"

"Yup!" Justin replied.  "If so, it would mean there would be a weekend where you guys could come up to see me, but unless you became coaches yourselves, you'd have to stay in a hotel or something.  The athletes stay in the dorms at UC Davis."

Pinky looked upset at this but the Brain smiled.

"We should become coaches, Pinky," he said.  "I mean we did unified flag football this year.  We could totally coach track and field."

"There's some forms and online training you guys would have to do," Justin's dad said, "but it's not too hard.  I could help you if you like."

"That would be great," Pinky said as they arrived at the practice site.  The three friends climbed out of the car and made their way onto the track as Justin's dad left and Justin dropped his stuff off by a fence near the track before walking two laps with Pinky and the Brain.

As they walked, the lab mice introduced themselves to the head coach and expressed their interest in helping with coaching duties.

"Terrific!" the head coach, an older man with brown hair and brown eyes in a gray sweatshirt, green shorts, white socks and black shoes, exclaimed.  "Just fill out the application and do the online training as soon as you can!"

With that the athletes and coaches gathered together to warm up before they began practicing.  And the first event that would be practiced was the 100 meter dash.  First they worked on the takeoff briefly and then it was time for the time trials to begin.  Justin took his place in lane number 2 and Pinky and Brain decided to run alongside him on the football field.

"On your mark....get set....GO!" the coach yelled as Justin took off as fast as he could.  Pinky and the Brain watched in amazement as Justin reached the end of the track in great speed.  The coach timing Justin grinned.

"16.28 seconds for you, Justin," she said.  Pinky and the Brain's jaws dropped as Justin, panting but grinning walked back to the group.

"That was amazing!" the Brain exclaimed.  "You were so fast!"

"Thanks," Justin said with a grin.  "Not bad for my first time."

"That was outstanding," the head coach remarked with a grin.  "Do you want to run that again to improve your time?"

"I don't think that's a good idea with my asthma," Justin replied.  "It's best I take it easy."

"Smart," the head coach.  "Okay, water break and then I think we'll try the long jump next!"

With that the athletes took a water break.  During it, the head coach spoke to Justin again.

"So, I need you to do the 4x100 relay this year," he said.  "Your speed is going to be absolutely necessary."

"You got it," Justin said.  "I think my other individual event will be the long jump.  Will we practice the relay today?"

"No," the head coach said.  "Next week though."

With that Justin, the athletes and the coaches went to the long jump area.  It had a sand pit at the end of the little track.  Right before the pit was a marker.

"So you guys will have to jump right on that marker if you can," the head coach said.  "Longest jump wins.  If you go over that jump, your jump will not count."

Justin decided to go first and took a strong running start and jumped just slightly before the marker.  Pinky and the Brain watched, enthralled, as Justin landed.  The head coach measured Justin's jump.

"Excellent, Justin!  2.5 meters!"

"Not too bad fir a first attempt," Justin said with a grin as he watched the other athletes jump.  One of them ended up jumping 2.6 meters, but Justin was okay with that.

"Now to improve my jump," he said as he went for it again and jumped a little early again.  But he had definitely improved his jump that time.

"Excellent!" the head coach exclaimed. "2.6 meters!  You're jumping just a tad early, but it's actually better to jump early than to jump late and have your jump disqualified.  So just keep doing what you're doing!"

Unfortunately, Justin's last jump ended up being ruled a foul jump and was disqualified.  Justin shook his head.

"That's not easy," he mused as he took another water break and tried his hand at the shot put before practice came to an end.

"Great practice everyone!" the head coach said.  "See you next week!"

With that Justin, Pinky and Brain headed to Justin's dad's car.  As they drove home, Justin told his dad about how he had done.

"So I've found my three events," Justin said.  "I'll be doing the 100 meter dash, the long jump and the 4x100 relay."

"Excellent," Justin's dad said with a grin.  Soon the three friends were home again and Justin went to shower before coming to the couch in a new outfit and collapsing.

"I am worn out," Justin sighed.

"I bet you are, NARF!" Pinky remarked.  "But you worked really hard!"

"Indeed," the Brain agreed.  "I think track and field is a good event for you," he added with a grin.

"Agreed," Justin said, grinning back at the lab mouse.  The three friends sighed and watched some television. Track and field practice had gone well.