One Tired Kid

Today Anya participated for the first time in the annual Sultan Unicycle Jamboree, placing second in the 100-meter dash, beginners' division. She and a partner also took third place in a pairs' 50-meter race.



The first race was the 50-meter dash, arranged by senority, so it took a while for Anya's group to get to the starting line.



Once they did, and the starting whistle blew, they were off ... more or less ... but Anya found her lane blocked by another girl who had run onto the track. This forced Anya to dismount, and although the other girl helped her back up so that she could finish the race, she was NOT happy.



The 100-meter dash went better. Anya showed great control and turned in a solid second-place finish. (Unfortunately, we have no pictures of Anya crossing the finish line. I stopped shooting to cheer her on, and because they reversed the order of groups in the second race, Kim was caught off guard in the ladies' room.)



Here's Anya on the winners' stand ...



... and showing off her ribbon. (Actually, only the first-place finishers got actual ribbons. Yep, the public schools really are that strapped for cash.)



Next came pairs racing, in which Anya ran two heats. She and her partner in the first heat showed some hustle, but to little avail.



In her second heat, she and her partner came in third. (Unfortunately, the pairs were assigned more or less at random, and we didn't get the names of Anya's two partners.)



And here's Anya on the winners' stand again, announcing her name.



While Kim went to get her some lunch, Anya practiced doing laps of the 1/4-mile track. By the time Anya had eaten and finished two laps, the one-mile race was announced. She insisted (to her parents' dismay) that she wanted to try the race, despite having just completed half a mile already.



Anya finished the race. She needed a helper for the final lap, but she let go over the last few yards so that she could finish under her own power. At the end of a mile and a half, Anya looked like this ...



... and sat down for a rest under direct orders from her dad.

Later, Anya ran a leg of a 400-meter relay and joined in the general goofing around that closed out the afternoon.





She went to bed this evening very weary, but still excited and happy about the day's events. We'll see how she fares tomorrow morning ...

The Jinx Is On

Well, it appears that the Pastime Tavern has gone out of business. No more Anal Chili Cook-Offs for us. And was it my fault for mentioning them in this blog? What do I look like, Sports Illustrated?

Anya got a new unicycle for her birthday this month. She had already made the unicycle team at Sultan Elementary School; the sole qualification for making the team is staying on the unicycle long enough to ride from one wall of the gym to the opposite wall. We'll post a picture as soon as we have one.