2011 Neighborhood
Olympics
July 23, 2011
Olympic Committee co-presidents - Jackson Heath and Jack Bevard
Treasurer - Jessica Bevard
Special Assistant - Ben Heath
Following
the opening ceremonies, the Olympic crowd gathered in our driveway to watch the
inaugural Margaret Drive Lawnmower Drag-race. From a spectator point of
view, this had to be one of the more popular events. Will Sheppard's alter
ego Johnny Awesome even made an appearance. Jackson and Jack started
things off with a demonstration race, then things kicked off in earnest.
We set a video camera up at the finish line in case there were any close calls.
And as luck would have it, the 2nd race was so close that I am still questioning
the call we made. In the end, Mark Coleman, fresh off a 5.5 hour drive
from the coast, won the gold on his Cub Cadet. Jessica came in 2nd and
Jack 3rd. Jackson raced on my dad's twenty year old mower because of its
high gear, but it proved to be a little too slow off the starting line.
And I was blown out of the water on our orange Scotts mower.
Following the tractor race, we had a single elimination basketball tournament. Jackson, Ben and I took home the gold after a tough championship game versus Will, Amy and Nicole. After three straight games in ninety degree heat, I was glad I wasn't entered in the next events. Immediately following basketball, it was time for another crowd favorite - the toddler race. This one was a lot of fun to watch.
While Mark was grilling the hotdogs and
hamburgers, the distance runners competed in three different categories.
The 13 and over crowd ran a 1.5 mile circuit through the neighborhood, the 9-12
year olds ran 1 mile and the 8 and under runners (Ben) ran a .25 mile sprint.
I cannot stress how hot it was that day, so all the runners deserve serious
props for finishing their races. Gold medal winners were Kevin, Nicole and
Ben. The last event of the day was badminton. Soccer was on the
schedule, but the badminton tournament had a large, competitive turnout and did
not finish until after dark. S'mores and camping was saved for the next
night. It was a big weekend that I think the kids will remember for a long
time.
