A Moving Look at Jaylin's Track Season

Jaylin’s first season of track ended recently, So here is a look back. In the field events, he tried the high jump, as you can see from his somewhat unconventional jump in the photo above. And he also participated in some running events.

Because track is a sport of motion, still photos just don’t quite do it justice. So here are some views presented as moving pictures.

First up, the high jump, since the field events always came first in these contests. Here he goes:

After several unsuccessful tries of flopping over the bar, as most people do it these days, he and a few of his friends tried a different approach, almost like a hurdle over the bar. He almost made it here, except that the bar came down right at the end. So close!

And here was one more try. Again, close, but not quite, unfortunately. But I think he liked the challenge of trying, even if it didn’t always work out. And he got closer than I could ever hope to get, so I am not criticizing at all.

One more jump, this time a more standard attempt. It was a nice try. And I was amazed by how high some of those other guys could jump. How do they do that?

Next, let’s move on to the running events. Jaylin usually participated in the 400 meter individual run, as well as one or two of the relays. Here he is heading down the home stretch:

This particular run was in one of the relays, because you can see him holding the baton. At various times, he ran the 4x100 (where 4 people each run 100 meters), the 4x200, and even the 4x400. Again, his team never did win, but they tried hard.

And here he is in the near lane in the 400 meter run. He ended up ahead of the other guys you can see here, but still not quite at the front. But that’s okay. He still ran the race and finished it, and that’s good.

So let’s go back and take a still-frame look at one of the runs:

The faces he made were pretty funny sometimes, and that was true for several of the other athletes as well. But you could tell by their faces that they were putting all they had into it. And look - Captain America socks! Who wouldn’t want to run in those?

As parents, we feel a sense of relief when a season is over. No more practices! No more track meets! More time at home! And I’m sure some of the kids feel that way, too. But I’m also glad that Jaylin tried something new this year, just to give him a chance to experience something different. You never know until you try!

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. - 2 Timothy 4:7

About the photos:

Each motion image was a burst of photos, put together in a GIF using Photoshop. I thought it would be fun to do that instead of just a regular still photo for each event. And I just like putting those together sometimes, so this was a good excuse for that.

Photo: A single Raw exposure, processed in Photoshop. Read more about photography tips, photo software, camera gear, and more at Steve’s Photography Tips. Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10 Lens: Olympus 14-42mm IIR Date: April 28, 2016 Location: Memphis, Tennessee