Field Trip: Adidas Track Classic

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I teach 4th grade in South Central Los Angeles. Twice weekly, for one hour, I teach P.E. to my students, although we have little equipment. We do, however, have a small four-lane track painted on our concrete playground, and being a runner myself, I decided early on in the year that I would trade in kickball and freeze tag for track workouts. After all, running is a sport that can be done anywhere, anytime, with nothing but a pair of decent shoes.

Inside the four walls of our classroom, we have been learning about current track stars and my students have really come to admire many of them. They all love fellow Californian Jordan Hasay because of what she has accomplished at such a young age. They think that Ryan Hall and Kara Goucher are incredible because of their 3rd place Boston Marathon finishes. In fact, the day of the Boston Marathon, we all anxiously awaited a phone call with live results from my sister who lives only a few blocks from the finish line. I think the cheers of my students could be heard throughout our large school as they learned that our American competitors earned podium finishes. They also think that Jeremy Wariner, Tyson Gay, and Allyson Felix are awesome because last spring, I filmed an Adidas running commercial with the Olympians, which my students recently discovered on YouTube (is nobody safe from a Google search?).

Back in September, I had only a handful of students who could complete two consecutive laps around our roughly 80-meter “track”. We have been working hard since then, and to reward those students who have made great improvements in their fitness and who have stayed motivated all year, I decided to have a little friendly competition. The kids were divided into two groups, boys and girls, and ran one-lap repeats. They had to complete each lap in 30 seconds or less to remain in the competition, and they were given a 30 second recovery. The last two boys and two girls standing would win a ticket to the Adidas Track Classic with me in Carson, just miles from our school. The race was on, and to my surprise, the winning students completed over 30 laps!

We arrived at the Home Depot Center on the sunny Saturday afternoon, and my students were immediately overwhelmed by the size and surface of an actual track. They clapped rhythmically for the long jumpers and squealed with amazement as the pole-vaulters soared over the bar time after time. But the best parts of the day were when the athletes they had been learning about appeared in person before their eyes. They cheered for Jordan and her blond ponytail (they dubbed her Rapunzel), they stayed focused on Shalane Flanagan and Sara Hall throughout the entire 5K race, and they came to adore steeple queen Anna Willard as she cleared barrier after barrier with pink and blond streaks in her short brown ponytail (surprisingly, none of my students have come to school with pink hair yet!).

As each race finished, we sprinted (with my injured self hobbling behind) from the stands to the tents behind the track where we had the most luck spotting the athletes and crowding them for autographs. All of the runners were extremely friendly and took the time to talk to my kids and take pictures with them. I was especially impressed by 17-year old Jordan who seems to handle pressure like a pro (she finished 11th in the international and professional field of the 1500 with a time of 4:16.92) and was great with my kids as they mobbed her.

As the meet was winding down, we got one last surprise. I spotted Ryan Hall walking past us (he was there to support his wife, Sara Hall, who placed 8th in the 5K race). I got his attention and introduced him to the kids. As soon as they made the Boston Marathon connection, they whipped out their autograph books and big smiles spread across their faces. Ryan told them that at his school, they didn’t have a track either. He offered them encouragement and left quite an impression on them. This past Monday, during P.E., one of my boys told informed class that “it looks like we’ll have to run around our concrete circle again, but that’s OK, because Ryan Hall didn’t have a real track either”.

The event was one that my students and I will not soon forget. I will be forever grateful to the athletes who took the time to inspire the next generation of track and field fans. You never know, the next Jordan Hasay just might be among them.

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This article was written by a WomenTalkSports.com contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own women's sports content.

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There is 1 comment on this post. Join the discussion!

anngaff says:

Laura, I just now noticed you'd written this because I was in labor when it was published! How adorable and great pictures. You are definitely the coolest teacher ever :) Now how about that Bay to Breakers post??

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 at 4:21pm EDT

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