Yesterday Jackson finished up his sophomore year of cross country by competing in the 3A State Championship. Not only did his team wrap up the season with a Top 10 finish in their classification, one of his teammates had the fourth best time among all 3A runners.

Jackson finished with a time of 19:13, his best time this season and only 8 seconds off of his personal record. He has really put in a ton of work this season and it was nice to see all of that culminate with a great performance yesterday. In addition, given that he is now one of the older guys on the team, Jackson has really stepped up as a vocal and emotional leader. Which is crazy to me because it doesn’t seem that long ago that he was just getting started with cross country.

I can’t describe the joy and the pride I feel when I watch him run. He promises me that it’s hard work (no doubt) but to me he makes it look effortless. And my heart jumps for joy every time I see him rounding the bend in one of these races. I’m sad to see another season come to an end but what a great way to finish! And it doesn’t sound like he’s planning to do much resting in the days ahead — he’s already asking me to sign him up for a half-marathon in December. I’m glad that he and some of his teammates are willing to continue working together even though the season has ended.

Sunny shot this video yesterday. I was too busy cheering him on — as I’m sure you can hear on the video! Congratulations, Jackson. Watching you run is pure joy, son.