Sunday Sports Event

Max spent the weekend with us and soon it will be Alex's turn again.  I picked him up on Friday afternoon from summer camp and Lee and the boys and I went to an Italian ice cream parlor for a treat before driving home.  Max had a good time with us but complained that the weekend was awfully short.  It probably seemed even more so because he had a track and field event to take part in on Sunday early afternoon.  We all met at the location, this time in Offenbach.

The boys have been training for a little over a year now and often go to such events on the weekends, but this was the first time we had been there to watch.  They are members of a very successful club in Hanau started by a retired couple who used to be teachers and who spend a lot of time and effort on the children.  They seemed unusually nice and helpful and I can understand why they are such effective coaches.

The weather was fine for sports because it stayed dry but wasn't too hot except when the sun came out, which didn't happen too often.  The wind was a little blustery and cool at times but all in all we were lucky to have such good weather.

Of course Max and Alex were proudly wearing their club jerseys.

There was a lot of waiting involved, partly because all the girls' events took place before they started with the boys and partly because there were so many children taking part.

Frank decided early on to place himself at the finishing line with a good book.  Unfortunately, the 50-meter race was not their first event and he had to give up his place.  Not that there were any crowds to replace him.

The boys had no problem with the long waits because they were  there with so many of their friends.

The first event was jumping and they each had three tries.  The boys were divided into age groups and  Alex's group was a lot bigger than Max's so he spent quite a lot of time in line waiting for his turn.

Here is Max flying through the air.

And here he is landing.  He wasn't terribly pleased with his results.  Maybe he shouldn't have eaten so much of my Bratwurst!

Here we see Alex whizzing by on his way to the jump off point.

He too flies through the air....

and lands.   His results were pretty good although I don't know if they were a personal best.

The next event was the 50-meter race.  Max's coach gives him some last minute advice after helping him set up the starting board (or whatever it's called).

Get ready!!!

Get set!!!   Go!!!

Alex, too, received his coach's full attention.

Very suspenseful!!

And they're gone!!

We didn't stay for the third event which was throwing, or the fourth which was a 1000-meter race because Frank still had hopes of catching some of the Mainz soccer game.  Actually we heard Mainz won on the way home and when we got here he was able to watch the game on the computer because he had registered recently for on-line access.  This made for one very happy husband!

The boys didn't have their most successful day at this event, but not their worst either.  We enjoyed experiencing it all with them and hope they continue to take part in the future.  We might even attend another one some day!