Guam Cross Country Meet

Waaaaaay baaaaaaaack in October 2016, I was the female chaperone with the Christian Academy in Japan's (CAJ) Cross Country team.  CAJ was invited to the Asian Pacific Invitational Cross Country Championship, which is held in Guam.  We arrived quite late on the Wednesday evening, by about 11:00 pm - midnight.  We were able to sleep in the next day and it was a low key day, which is good for the runners.  Most of the day was spent driving students to the the malls, shopping at the malls, or monitoring students at the pool.  Students did have orientation to the race route that afternoon, because there wouldn't be time to do that the next morning before the race.

Waiting at the station

Collecting the luggage at the baggage claim

The pool

The Friday morning was an early one, with the boys having to be ready for warm-ups at the track by 5:15 am.  It was still dark, as the first race begins shortly after the sun rises.  That is when the humidity kicks in and it becomes so warm that running it too late in the day, isn't such a great idea.

Morning of the first race

Sunrise

A bit of humidity...

Girls starting line

Sunset

Dinner at Capricciosa Ristorante

Night view from my room

The last day, is the relay race.  The teams run in pairs, one female and one male, each person running the circuit twice.  The males began, running the circuit once, passing off to the females, who pass it to their male partner and finishing the race on the beach is the female partner.

Rainbow the morning of the second race

Getting ready to start the relay

Praying before running

Running through the water

Frolicking in the water after the relay race

The Saturday evening is a banquet at the John F. Kennedy High School.  After the banquet, there is an awards ceremony recognizing all the top runners and top teams.

Banquet

Awards ceremony

Individual achievements

It was a great time getting to know some of our High School students.  Each evening we had devotions in the coaches' room, focusing us on running the race God has placed before us.  I am thankful I was able to be a part of this trip and help our cross country team.