Kris runs a marathon.
...well, not really.
I did run in the school "marathon" last week though. It's an annual event, like the sports festival or chorus contest, where the whole school walks down to the riverside running path for an afternoon of running and drinking sports drinks.
The girls run 2.5k and the boys run 4k. At most schools there are a handful of young teachers who want to (or are peer pressured into) running with the students, but I'm the youngest at my school by more than 10 years, so our PE teacher was slightly ruffled when I asked to join the race. All week leading up to the marathon he repeatedly asked if I was really going to be alright, which only agitated me and started my campaign to run with the boys (which he was definitely not comfortable with). My mind was made up for me on Friday morning when some of my girls asked if I would run with them, so I bore the harassment from some boys about wussing out of the 4k and ran in the girls' race.
I ended up with a pack of girls running with/behind me, repeatedly shouting through the first 500m that they were NOT going to lose to me, but whining that I had started too quickly. So I slowed down a bit and we all ran together for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing 22nd of 65+ students and all of the girls in my group ran their fastest times ever! Everyone was happy.... and tired.
Then it was time for the boys to run, and since some of them had lined up along different points of the course to shout "USA! USA!" when I ran by (inevitably making me laugh), I decided to return the favor. I ran around to different points on the course to take pictures and shout encouragements as they ran past. There were a ton of teachers and PTA parents doing the same thing, but the students would laugh or shout back to me, or pose for the pictures I was taking... maybe this is why the cranky gym teacher didn't want me to run with them? In the end, my words of encouragement turned into running alongside one of my students for the last 1k or so, trying to cajole him into finishing the race without walking. We pretended to sprint through the finish-line in a dramatic fashion and once again, everyone was happy... and tired.
Everyone stood around trying to loosen up, then the kids had to sit on the ground and listen to boring speeches, but one of my students' legs were so tight that he couldn't sit... so I spent most of the speech-time giggling at him.
Then we were supposed to walk around the park and pick up trash before heading back to school. I started out with the best intentions, but ended up gossiping with some girls, taking pictures and looking for 4-leaf clovers. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing a good job at the whole "positive influence" part of being a teacher...
Once we finally got back to the school, we were greeted by a ton of PTA moms who had made massive quantities of tonjiru (miso soup with pork and fall veggies) for the tired runners, so I sat outside with the students eating, talking and taking more pictures.
It was a great event that I missed at both schools last fall due to my rotation schedule, I'm so glad that I got to participate this year! ...and much to my PE teacher's surprise, I didn't have any muscle soreness at all...
I did run in the school "marathon" last week though. It's an annual event, like the sports festival or chorus contest, where the whole school walks down to the riverside running path for an afternoon of running and drinking sports drinks.
The girls run 2.5k and the boys run 4k. At most schools there are a handful of young teachers who want to (or are peer pressured into) running with the students, but I'm the youngest at my school by more than 10 years, so our PE teacher was slightly ruffled when I asked to join the race. All week leading up to the marathon he repeatedly asked if I was really going to be alright, which only agitated me and started my campaign to run with the boys (which he was definitely not comfortable with). My mind was made up for me on Friday morning when some of my girls asked if I would run with them, so I bore the harassment from some boys about wussing out of the 4k and ran in the girls' race.
I ended up with a pack of girls running with/behind me, repeatedly shouting through the first 500m that they were NOT going to lose to me, but whining that I had started too quickly. So I slowed down a bit and we all ran together for the rest of the race. I ended up finishing 22nd of 65+ students and all of the girls in my group ran their fastest times ever! Everyone was happy.... and tired.
Then it was time for the boys to run, and since some of them had lined up along different points of the course to shout "USA! USA!" when I ran by (inevitably making me laugh), I decided to return the favor. I ran around to different points on the course to take pictures and shout encouragements as they ran past. There were a ton of teachers and PTA parents doing the same thing, but the students would laugh or shout back to me, or pose for the pictures I was taking... maybe this is why the cranky gym teacher didn't want me to run with them? In the end, my words of encouragement turned into running alongside one of my students for the last 1k or so, trying to cajole him into finishing the race without walking. We pretended to sprint through the finish-line in a dramatic fashion and once again, everyone was happy... and tired.
Everyone stood around trying to loosen up, then the kids had to sit on the ground and listen to boring speeches, but one of my students' legs were so tight that he couldn't sit... so I spent most of the speech-time giggling at him.
Then we were supposed to walk around the park and pick up trash before heading back to school. I started out with the best intentions, but ended up gossiping with some girls, taking pictures and looking for 4-leaf clovers. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing a good job at the whole "positive influence" part of being a teacher...
Once we finally got back to the school, we were greeted by a ton of PTA moms who had made massive quantities of tonjiru (miso soup with pork and fall veggies) for the tired runners, so I sat outside with the students eating, talking and taking more pictures.
It was a great event that I missed at both schools last fall due to my rotation schedule, I'm so glad that I got to participate this year! ...and much to my PE teacher's surprise, I didn't have any muscle soreness at all...
posted by Kris at
1:01 PM
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