Back at the end of February, Nanni and Papa Anstiss were in the Wellington Region for a couple of weeks. We managed to catch up with them about 4-5 times while they were around which really was a treat! Besides all the other draw cards to Wellington, one of the main events was Papa's Master's Athletic Competition. The kids and I were able to drop by to catch his pole vault pre-lims and while we were there we caught a glimpse of other athletes doing their thing. The kids were wide-eyed when the 'gun' went off for the long-distance walk, the 60m sprint, and the 400m run... actually, I think that was their favourite part.
Papa only does pole-vaulting when it is offered at a competition - which means he only gets to do it maybe once a year... or every other year. What a brave man!
Happy cheerleaders on the side-lines...
Don't let the lounging fool you, Hunter was taking it all in because just two weeks later, he participated in his first ever Athletics Day...
and he rocked!!!
A coach from Athletics New Zealand gave the 30 home-school children a few lessons around discus, shotput, javelin (using a nerf vortex for safety sake, eh... could you imagine 30 kids throwing a spear!?!) and long jump. Then they had a bit of a pentathlon for some healthy competition.
Helena was able to join in the activities as well - I think she may have been the youngest but by no means was she going to let that stand in her way. She got out there and gave it all a good go!!!
In the end, Hunter threw the discus 13.40m which was pretty much the third furthest throw among all age levels - only two 12+ year old boys threw further than he did!!!! WOW!!! His shotput was also competitive with the 8-9 year olds. We'll have to work on his endurance though, he got the stitch in the 400m run and ended up walking to the finish line - so this was Helena's only 5th placing (she powered around the whole track - I was impressed!) and at least we can say both of these kids are learning to finish!
It was a really fun day out - sunny weather, a visit with Jane who popped over, new people. Plus we drove out with the van Asch kids - who are my home-school inspiration!!! What a great way to spend a Thursday morning!
By the time we got back to Johnsonville, swimming had started but nobody complained about missing it - I think everyone was happy just to chill out after a hot day on the track! And who knows... maybe Hunter and Helena will develop an interest that will carry them through til they're in the "masters" age range?!?! Papa would be pleased.
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