Only two members of the cross-country team attended the Bella Vista Bronco Invitational at Willow Hills Reservoir in Folsom, Oct. 18.
As junior Adam Ketchum prepared to run the boys’ varsity 5,000-meter race, he felt queasy; he had just eaten three bowls of grapes before he arrived.
“Upon reflection, it was stupid to eat that many grapes before the race, but I couldn’t find anything besides grapes in my house,” Ketchum said.
Although Ketchum didn’t feel like racing, he decided to run anyway.
Distracted by the pain in his stomach, Ketchum ended up running into a tree branch near the beginning of the race, which left a cut on his forehead.
“Apparently, that was the last straw for my stomach, because I barfed on the side of the track shortly after that,” Ketchum said.
Once the grapes were out of his system, Ketchum had to only walk for a few minutes before he was able to continue running.
Because of all the obstacles, Ketchum finished in 25:23.82, placing 174th of 183 runners.
“That was definitely the worst race I have ever been in,” Ketchum said.
“But I do think it’s a little funny that I didn’t get last place,” Ketchum said.
Sophomore John Hansen’s time, on the other hand, improved.
In the 5,000-meter race, Hansen finished in 24:46.69, improving his previous time by 15.31 seconds.
The team’s next race will be the SMAL League Championship at Granite Regional Park, Tuesday, Oct. 28.
