The Great Urban Race: Portland 2012

Well, Eric and I can't let the kids have all the adventures.  For our 20th wedding anniversary Eric signed us up to participate in the Great Urban Race.  We still like having fun together.  I have to admit that after all that happened in the month of June when this adventure rolled around I wasn't quite sure I wanted to do it.  I was so tired!  But, I knew Eric was excited about it and because I love him so much I went along.  I am glad I did.  What a great day we had together laughing, problem solving and enjoying one another's company.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Great Urban Race, let me tell you a little about it.  It is like a half marathon and the reality show, Amazing Race, rolled into one (only we didn't know about the marathon part of it and were quite shocked to see everyone in running gear, next time we will know...) The object of the race is to get to know Portland by accomplishing several tasks throughout the city.  Your feet or public transportation is the only way you are allowed to get around the city. When all is completed you are to report to the finish line with the evidence of completing all the required tasks.  Let me tell you, people took this seriously!  There were teams that had computer support staff on call all day.  Eric and I had our smart phones and our brains and still did quite well.  We finished 64th in 4:06:02 out of 196 teams.

A few of the things we had to overcome:

1.  Talking to strangers and asking them to do funny things (of course Eric had me do this while he figured out where the other challenges were and mapped the course we should take):

I made Eric give this stranger a piggy back ride.  He couldn't let me have all the fun.

I got to know four random people walking down the street as I begged them to stay for a picture until I had the required four people in sunglasses.  They were all great sports!  People in Portland are pretty friendly.

2.  We thought we would have to get a tattoo, but instead got to eat dried scorpions:

3.  Walk on a bed of hot coals:

4.  Show off our talents:

5.  Create a culinary masterpiece at Portland's Culinary Workshop (and eat it too):

6.  Participate in a 15 minute yoga rejuvinating routine at the Lotus Blossom:

7.  Sort dried herbs by smell into the appropriate bins:

We were also able to provide donations for the local Ronald McDonald house, roll a quarter between fork prongs at a local oyster bar, work on a new car lot and become VERY familiar with the streets of Portland.  We probably walked about 9 miles total and took the city bus once.  It was definitely a fun day and a grand adventure, but most of all I am glad I was able to hang with my best friend.

Austin's High Adventure Experience

Isn't it funny how life continues to move forward even when you think you don't have the energy to keep up with it?  I find I just get pulled along anyway.  It is a good thing I have so many wonderful people to help me when I am at my limit.  Austin is one of those people.

Doesn't this face look like it can handle just about anything?

With so much attention focused on getting Tanner settled.  Poor Austin, Carson and McKenna were left to fend for themselves.  That was an adventure in an of itself.  We left the kids at home alone under Austin's care while we drove Tanner's stuff to BYU and got him set up.  He did a wonderful job running the house all the while getting ready for his high adventure activity. Here is just one example of how wonderful this boy is: I came home to a clean house.  

Austin left for his Priest high adventure trip on Tuesday morning before we even made it back from Provo.  He was going to spend four days rafting the Dechutes river in Oregon.  While we were gone he figured out his own food, packing and equipment.  He also kept Carson and McKenna happy, safe and fed.

All the Priests and their leaders ready to ride the river.

Strong, steady and true in all things.

Life is good!

Minute to Win-it:  Are you man enough?

Austin you are just AWESOME!

2012 Junior National Championships

The decision to send Tanner to the national track and field championships was not an easy one.  It was going to be expensive.  He was going to miss the orientation for incoming BYU students.  If he did qualify to go to Spain, he would be missing the equivalent of two weeks of classes for his first college semester.  Eric and I started weighing the pros and cons, checking finances, checking timing, and figuring out our options.  We both felt like we needed to provide Tanner the opportunity, but didn't know how to make it all work.  We made it a matter of prayer and from there went on faith.

We knew the best place for Tanner to be this summer was at BYU.  We felt we needed to move forward with him attending school rather than deferring his enrollment until fall.  We also knew we needed to send Tanner to Indiana to compete in nationals.  After getting those answers, we didn't know how it was all going to work out but we decided to take it one step at a time.

Are we ready for this?

Oh, yeah!

Jason - the body guard

The weekend of nationals was the same weekend Tanner was supposed to be checking in to BYU. Instead of a family road trip, we sent Tanner on a plane to Indiana where he met up with my brother, Jason, who drove down to Bloomington from Michigan to be Tanner's coach and buddy for the weekend at the meet.  They stayed in the dorms at Indiana State University.  Jason took good care of him, he made sure Tanner was where he needed to be when he needed to be there, and that his stomach was full and his head was in the game.  Eric and I said we would cover the expenses (to a certain extent).

"Fast guys need fast cars."

No, we didn't reimburse for the speeding ticket.

Tanner and Jason at the Indiana airport EARLY Sunday morning - Father's Day.

This was the right thing to do.  Tanner needed some Uncle Jason time.  Eric and I loaded up his stuff and started the drive to BYU without him.  We would fly Tanner from Indiana to Salt Lake on Sunday after the meet and pick him up on our way through to Provo.

Tanner leading the first heat in the 2012 National Junior Championships 

It about killed us that we couldn't be there to see Tanner run.  Eric's work was very generous and let us set up a conference call with Jason when Tanner was scheduled to run.  That way we could hear the play by play.  We were still in Vancouver for the preliminaries, but had to make sure we had cell service as we were driving through Idaho during the finals.  We ended up pulling into Burleyand sitting at the park by the river while we were on the call.  I think there were probably 20 people that called in: friends, family and admirers who all wanted to know how Tanner's race was going.  We couldn't figure out why Jason was not telling us what was going on the last few seconds of the race.  When we pulled into Pocatello we stopped at a Starbucks and watched the race video that had been posted on the iPad.  I knew the outcome and my heart was still in my throat watching it transpire.

Tanner deciding the last 50 yards he really wanted to go to Spain!

 Junior Team USA's 800m runners:  Tanner Sork and Shaquille Walker

Tanner had some pretty neat experiences while he was in Bloomington.  He was able to hang out with Shaquille Walker (800m runner from BYU) who would be running the same event as Tanner and work a little bit with Coach Ed Eyestone.  Several of the BYU runners came from their varied events that weekend to watch these two run.  They all took Tanner under their wings and made sure he had everything he needed to be successful.  Including special spikes for the track that Tanner didn't know about.  They were ready to disqualify him, but Ryan Waite stepped up and had an extra set he put in Tanners shoes.

Here is a link to view the 800m final race:  http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=7289&do=videos&video_id=71872

Tanner registering for Team USA.
To follow:  Drug testing, apparel fitting, uniform selection,
and international travel document check.

Tanner's flight back to Salt Lake just happened to be with Miles Batty and Ryan Waite, runners from the BYU track team.  They gave him a little new-student orientation on the plane ride so he would be all ready for classes that started the next day (including telling him he needed to change his schedule first thing - college calculus was not going to be a good class to miss for his trip to Spain.) When they walked off the plane, Shalyce and the girls, Eric and I were there with big posters congratulating Tanner.  We were so star struck by Miles and Ryan we didn't even recognize it was Tanner walking right in between them.

Sunday we got Tanner set up in his dorm and re-worked his schedule as much as we could.  Monday we met with the coaches between classes who walked us through the steps of being a student athlete and being academically successful.  Monday night we left Tanner (he didn't even give us a kiss or hug goodbye, he was so busy (Yes, this made me cry way more than I was planning on.)  Tanner had a lot to figure out in a short amount of time.  We left him with an incomplete class schedule, no internet functioning in his dorm, textbooks still sitting at the bookstore, and no BYU ID.  But we knew he was in good hands and would be well taken care of.  The Lord was answering our prayers, and He had a plan for Tanner.  He was heading to Spain!

Graduation: Union High School Class of 2012

Tanner did it!  We always knew he would, we just didn't know it would quite go like this.  Tanner graduated from Union High School in the class of 2012.  For any senior their senior year is a little stressful.  It is hard to focus and there is a lot to be done.  For Tanner this was amplified a hundredfold.  Not only was he graduating, he was also heading off to college the same week. This meant he had to be packed, registered for classes, course books purchased and everything ready to go before he even finished his high school career.  In addition to all of this the last few weeks were filled with the pressures from his recent success in track.  As a Mom I was ready to loose it.  My emotions were all over the place.  I don't know how Tanner kept things all together, but he did.  When I asked him about it he said, "It is weird to feel all of these different emotions at the same time, sometimes it feels like I'll explode."

Grandma Sork came into town for graduation and was able to attend Baccalaureate with us and hear the award winning choir sing.  It was her first opportunity to see Tanner and Austin perform.  She was very impressed. It was fun to see all of the Seniors in the choir standing up there.  They are a very tight group and it wasemotional.  It will be hard for them to all go their separate ways.

(Don't let the robes fool you, Tanner is truly a runner and doesn't go many places without his running shoes including graduation.)

Following Baccalaureate we had an open house where family and friends could come congratulate Tanner on his many high school accomplishments and wish him well as he left for new adventures.  The house was packed all evening and everyone was very generous in helping Tanner feel he had what he needed to head off to college:

I had saved all of his high school track and cross country Tshirts and made them into a memory quilt (with the help of Sister Pitman and Sister LaFever, Sis. McKague and Grandma Tippetts) for his bed at BYU.

When Tanner packed up his room, I secretly took the quotes and pictures he had collected over the years and put them together in one big poster for his dorm wall.  His track coach, Mr. Burdick, "lost" a Union track jersey in Tanner's locker that he wanted him to take to school with him.

Grandmas and Grandpas went in on a new smart phone for Tanner so he could keep himself organized, but most of all so he could keep in touch.  Not sure if either one will happen, but he was sure excited about the gift for other reasons.

Many people were very generous with gift cards, dorm-room appropriate food, and money as they all said their good-byes.

Graduation night Tanner was awarded his diploma.  He could barely walk across the stage with all the medals he received through his high school years (and he didn't even wear all of them, only his most recent) for his choir, running and academic achievements.

Tanner, we are so proud of you.  It is hard to leave behind all these wonderful things, but you have a lot to look forward to.  Your life is just beginning. Mom and Dad have tried our best for 18 years to prepare you for this moment and help you see your potential.  Good luck at BYU!  We can't wait to see where life takes you.

4.0 Brothers

Carson, Chad and Austin are inseparable.  They do everything together: 

They walk to and from school together.

They play the same instrument in the orchestra.

They have air soft wars together.

They are on the same lacrosse team.

They even study together.  If not at each other's houses, via face time on their iPods.

All three boys worked hard and earned a 4.0 all year.  That's the peer pressure we like to see.

Good work, boys and keep it up!

Post Track Season

Tanner didn't like taking second at state.  It left a bad taste in his mouth, so when Marcus Dickson (a BYU recruit from White River) asked Tanner if he wanted to run in the Border Dual meet with him the following weekend Tanner accepted. The top runners from Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana would be there.

Marcus, who is a very talented runner, told Tanner he would pace him.  Marcus was gunning to break the state record in the 800m.  If Tanner stuck with him he could top the first place time at the state meet and take what was rightfully his, a state title.

Tanner (443) and Marcus Dickson (464) at the Border Dual

Before the meet Tanner was a ball of nerves.  Marcus told him he was going to run the first lap in 53 seconds.  Tanner wasn't sure that was the race he wanted to run, but he trusted Marcus and stuck to him like glue, then decided in the last 100m he wasn't going to take second to Marcus either.  Tanner turned up the speed, overtook Marcus and placed first breaking the Washington state high school record and becoming the fastest high school 800m runner in the nation for 2012.  We didn't even know what he had done until someone in the stands told us what a remarkable run it was.  In 1:48.74 Tanner's life changed. 


 To see an article about this event see:  http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/track-and-xc/post/_/id/3739/sork-dickson-crash-washington-800-record

Here is a video of the race:  http://youtube.ng/watch?v=LgRzwPKvg4w&feature=relmfu

The second we got home the phone was ringing - coaches were calling to see if Tanner had decided on a college yet and had scholarship offers for him.  Luckily BYU was one of those calls.  The star 800m runner from BYU had seen a post about the race by Marcus and called the BYU coach and told him he better get on the phone with Tanner and get him signed.  That he did.  The coach also encouraged Tanner to go to the Junior National Championships in Indiana and compete for a spot on the Junior USA team that would compete in the World Junior Championships in Barcelona, Spain in July.

Tanner signing his letter of intent for BYU

That gave us a lot to think about.  Tanner was set to start BYU the same weekend the National meet was held, and if he did make it on the US team he would be missing a lot of his summer term to go to Barcelona to compete.  After lots of prayers we decided this was an opportunity we needed to make happen for Tanner.

Tanner Sork (left) surges to the finish line to take the victory in the 800 in 1:49.10 at the Portland Track Festival.

We entered Tanner in another race, The Portland Track Festival, this time he would run against college and pro runners to see how he could do and if Barcelona was within his grasp.  He didn't disappoint.  He ran another sub 1:50 800m, taking first against seasoned runners.

Here is the link to this race: http://www.runnerspace.com/eprofile.php?event_id=139&do=videos&video_id=71084

If there was any doubt in our minds, there wasn't anymore.  We definitely needed to send him to Indiana for the Junior USA National Championships.