Today Ela went with a bus load of kids from her school to the Zone athletics carnival. After coming 2nd place in the school final of girls (8yrs) 100m, she had qualified to attend at Sydney Olympic Park Athletics centre. She was so excited about it and when she heard that the girl who had come first from her school was not going because she was sick, Ela was even more convinced that she could win.
We bought her a new pair of running shoes (they were needed!) and gee'd her up to do her best. She was sooooo nervous the night before she hardly slept and she woke up saying she felt sick in her tummy. I kept telling her it was butterflies and nerves and it was normal and we waved her off on the bus at 7.30am. When we arrived at the stadium to watch, there was an enormous din and all the schools in the area were already chanting.Ela's race had 4 heats and Ela was up in the last of these. She was in lane 5 and ran her little heart out. Whilst she didn't place this year, we kept reminding her how proud we were for her to even reach the Zone since she was running against girls in the year above her. It was a bit emotional afterwards but luckily she had her cousins Sophie and Lulu cheering her on and they helped cheer her up.
