4th of July: A fast-moving flag

My son Joey is 15 and turning 16 soon. He’s at the age where questionable decisions and debatable judgment are the norm. And so it is with a smile that I report that he used unusual and questionable judgment by racing a 4-miler in Saratoga Springs on the 4^th of July wearing a full-body stars and stripes morphsuit. It’s full body, as in, covering his head and face. His vision was impaired to the point of barely seeing in front of him. Fortunately, it was not too hot and humid, but he admitted to being less than comfortable in that not-very-breathable suit. When I saw him with about 50 meters to go and implored him to start kicking, he said, “oh, where’s the finish line?” Uh. Yeah. But again, I type this with a smile. If these are among the worst head-scratching choices of my soon-to-be 16-year-old, we’re doing OK at this point. For those keeping score at home, Flag Boy cracked the top 100 (99^th out of 3,205 finishers and 27^th of 217 in the 15-19 division) and ran 24:31, an average of about 6:08 per mile. Not bad for a moving flag.