Alex has spent the past several weeks training to run track events and today was his first official meet at Willow Springs High School not too far from the dance studio he used to attend in Fuquay-Varina.
Parking and meeting up with his coach proved to be somewhat challenging but we managed to find our way into the stadium in time for him to register for the 100m event whilst I found a very advantageous spot to set up for filming.
His events were part of the Special Olympics Unified Sports which teams up special athletes with their able-bodied peers on the same track.
He and coach went through their warmup routines and before we knew it he was taking the starting line for his race. The gun sounded and they were off…and next thing I know I’ve got him passing right below me finishing just ahead of a young lady competing from Southeast Raleigh HS.
The video linked below was surprisingly good considering I was juggling holding the phone against the monopod as I was shooting stills from the D850.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n47j35z5TDYCSjl-KtsCydil8I8KrwMp/view
But then something really cool occurred as he and coach were walking back toward the ramp and they announced the podium ceremony. Alex insisted on being at the podium to celebrate the other racers and the clean sweep from Sanderson HS and so they did a quick U-turn back to the podium area.
I wish I could say I was surprised at that but he’s always had a huge sense of good sportsmanship.
He may not have won the race and he wasn’t the lanterne rouge either…but long after that result is forgotten, his good sportsmanship will be remembered for years to come!
Sadly, that was his one race of the day as he wasn’t able to run his other 4x100m event but I’m sure he’ll get his chance soon enough. I don’t think he minded getting a chance to watch Prince’s “Purple Rain” from start to finish that he’s been bugging me about for weeks and was about to go off from HBO Max. Truth be told, I’d never seen it all the way through and it was a nice way to wind down after a hot day at the track. 🙂
