Thanks to grants from PTOC, we were able to attend two A-meets in 2011: one near Buffalo, New York, in August, and the other in St. Louis, Missouri, in October. Matt, Joe, and John used the grant money in New York, while Jessica, Matt, and Joe were able to attend the meet in St. Louis.

In New York, there were 3 very good people in the M-20 category who got 1st , 2nd , and 3rd every race, so Joe did badly (4th in middle and long, and 6th in sprint, actually) and Matt did worse. John ran in the M-12 category, getting 1st in the middle, and 3rd in the sprint and long. The middle race was wet and muddy (Joe lost his shoe at one point, and had to dig it out of the mud and get it back on!), the sprint was in a grassy area near the middle with simple navigating and lots of running, and the long had very steep re-entrants with some difficult navigating. It was our first trip to New York, and we enjoyed the top-rate competition. We also feasted on some awesome pizza near the motel twice (with leftovers for our post-race refueling)!

At the end of October, we headed to St. Louis for a sprint, the Night-O Champs, a middle race, a corn maze, and the Relay Champs. Matt was sick and had to walk the most of the courses. Joe didn’t do well on the Night-O because he was too cautious, so he ran slower than he should have. However, he aced the middle and got 1st place overall on the red course. (It must have been the huge breakfast he ate that morning, instead of his usual fasting!) The corn maze was a big draw for Jessica, but she didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought she would. For the relay, Joe did well on PTOC’s 8-point team (consisting of Paul Clatterbuck, Angie Barrett, Dick Neuburger, and Joe), but Mom got lost. If Matt hadn’t been sick, he could have replaced Mom and we might have placed third. Instead, Matt helped the 12-point team (consisting of Reta Roe, Jessica, Matt, and Mike Shifman) finish 3rd.