IV. Dél Csillag Cup, Szeged

Preface

Peter didn't look like being able to race at all today. He was coughing and breathing hardly so after some warm-up laps we decided to call it a day for him and pull out of the competition. Then the sole fact his classmate/friend turned up to cheer him made a complete turn in his mind. From then on he was focused on the competition and did not care any further how ill in reality he was. Interestingly his symptoms seemed to fade indeed so we agreed he could start. Well of course add a lot of magic, too - calcium, Zyrtec, menthol-eucalyptus cremes, etc.

Gathering for the opening ceremony

In the last competition Peter complained he was afraid for his glasses, so the last day of the summer we went to the doc and asked her about temporary contact lenses for Peter. She told us that day-by-day usage at this age is not recommended as kids do not care enough for hygiene and so can cause a lot of infections for their own eyes when moving the lenses in/out. But we agreed that for selected days, and in a controlled way (ie we adults put the lenses in and take them out) he could use one-day lenses. So we bought some to test it and this weekend was their test. In the morning Aniko could put the lenses on for Peter easily and he enjoyed them very much, and it was also Aniko getting the lenses out in the evening. Peter simply loved the fact he could race without the glasses on and he could return to wearing his 'trademark' sunglasses. He did not complain at all except for 'feeling' them at the end of Day2, which was natural given it was hot, bit windy and the environment quite dusty. I guess it will be even more comfortable when racing on ice.

Enjoying the new flat concrete

He and me agreed he could take an MP3 player to the track with his favorites loaded and use it before or between the races to get 'in mood' - so it was loaded with AC/DC, Metallica, Queen etc powersongs. He looked very professional: skinsuits, skates, helmet, sunglasses, earplugs, drinking Gatorade... Olympics, here we come :D

Opening ceremony

The competition

As I wrote previously they were expected to be 10 or 11 in his age category, but it turned out they were only 7, including Peter. So that meant they did not have to run semifinals but could start with the finals. It helped him a lot, as it meant he had to start in 3 races only, not 6.

His opponents included local guy IT, big opp GyD from TDKE, FP from the Czech, and 3 Romanians: DE, GP and EI. We have already saw FP racing in Tatabánya so we knew he is a strong, long guy, better on long distances, but we knew nothing about the Romanian kids so they were the proverbial dark horse.

Opening ceremony ends

200m

Weather was perfect, calm & sunny, sometimes even a little bit too hot. By the time it was Peter's turn the delay was over 1 hour and it kept increasing with every race.

He had to start with the 200m distance, which he really doesn't like, but by some miracle he had a very nice race. He started quite good (in 4th place) and then he wasn't afraid of some (aggressive) scrum during the 1-lap distance. Then in the final turn he couldn't quite solve the thinking of a Romanian opponent (DE) and instead of overtaking he slowed down a little bit, but then regained speed for the final straight and finished 4th, beaten only by 0.05 seconds. I was very happy with that, as he showed true & strong will and did not fear to fight his opponents like earlier this year. He told us he could have been 3rd if he hawked for the finish but I told him it was better to play safe then injure himself.

400m

Then after some hours his 2nd distance came, about 2 laps. He pulled a bad start, literally starting half a second later then the others. But after one straight he was already overtaking and zooming at a nice speed. Then he found his way across the field very nicely and by the finish line he was 3rd! He really moved on the track like one who has a thorough understanding about what was happening. Very nice, we couldn't stop praising him and he seemed very pleased with that - only the fact he was again just few cms from finishing better annoyed him a bit (this time it was 0.03s)...

500m

That marked the end of Day 1 and we really hoped he would get better for the next day. In fact he did and it was the longest distance waiting for him so he was quite relaxed before the start. He started well and was skating with the field, moving ahead one by one. He was 4th at the start of the last lap, then moved up to third in the turn. There he sat behind his local opponent (and sometimes relay teammate) IT and I saw an attack coming from behind from a Romanian guy. I was afraid he would get locked up in a scissors situation but he stepped out from behind IT at the beginning of the last turn, accelerated with deep carving crossovers and came out of the turn as 2nd and held on to that during the sprint. Once again he showed clever and brave racing, using full force when needed. Sadly I missed pushing the Rec button (was too nervous I guess) so can not show the video. I am really angry with that, this race was so good to watch :(((

So he earned a 4th, a 3rd and a 2nd place and that put him on the 3rd place overall. Not a bad finish when you think about pulling out of the competition, right? :)

Podium photos

Relays

Coach E asked me if Peter could do the relays with HB, a teammate in age category D. It was a 15-lap relay and we knew beforehand they cannot even qualify for the finals against 3-men full D cat. teams - but no problem, let's play practice then. HB is usually a good starter but burns off after 1 lap - and this was proved once again with the twist that he had an awful start and was last by the first turn. Then they were doing 2-2 laps each, Peter doing the remaining finish lap. HB showed great fluctuations on his laptimes while Peter was more consistent, but truth be told he was completely out of fuel on his last 2-lapper. But when he started the finish lap he found some energy somewhere (I'm still puzzled where) and produced a rocking finish, almost overtaking the team ahead.

He was completely KO after that lap, he couldn't talk or move normally for long long minutes only grasp for air. He really gave in all and produced 110%. After all, he was racing 10-11 year old ones while he is only 8.
As a matter of fact if he was relaying with IT in age category E as in the Savaria Cup they could have grabbed a gold - but this was 'team order' so nothing to do, think or say against that.

Cheerleaders...

Me

I had 2 distances among the senior amateurs on Saturday, and when I say senior it means 14+... We were 3 women and 5 men at the start, only 1 older than me. However I managed to overtake some younger ones on the shorter distance (800m) and finished 4th (3rd between men). In the 1000m I decided to rest a bit behind a tall guy who kept on looking backwards to check when I'd attack - I guess he did not know I was a bike racer :) So I made 3 false attacks to scare him and when he thought the 3rd was over and relaxed for a second I overtook him easily. Then I reached up to a female racer and passed her and then it was over. The time was not the best because I was having fun and playing with that guy but no problem - I have plenty of time to reach PBs :D

In overall I earned a bronze and the guys ahead were junior age so nothing shameful.

Seniors?

Organizers

The races' order was published only after the technical meeting, not beforehand. And there were big & numerous delays. I don't really know why does it take 20 minutes for the main referee and the coaches to re-assure that 110mm wheels are not allowed below a given age, as it is clearly stated in the rulebook and the referee has sent each coach an email about it a week before.

As the delays summed up, it was clear the first day won't be finished properly. The last amateur races were held at 18:00 while the amateur award ceremonies were scheduled to 16:30... so they had to move several pro heats to Day 2.

I understand electronics can play strange games when you want to use them to clock the events but still it was not to blame for the bigger part of delays. There was literally no pre-heat call for the racers and we had to wait long minutes between each race to let enough time for them to gather at the starting line.

By the end of Day2 everyone was very exhausted - this is what long waiting does to humans. And I don't even want to think about at what time poor Polish or Czech kids managed to get home...

Waiting

The meet had a 'star' competing on Sunday, Daniel Zschätzsch from Germany. He raced the real-Berlin-Marathon on Saturday and traveled quite a bit to get here. He entered the race on the 10k elimination and showed great form and tactical expertise - racing on an unknown track against unknow opponents is tough. It was good to see an international-level skater racing.

Sum-up

After all it was a good race for Peter as he proved himself he can be a dangerous foe for anyone in the national cup, even when being ill, and that self-confidence is very much needed. And he showed very clever racing, something that is hard to gain and learn. So I think it was a good preparation for the last turn of the cup in Tatabánya, in 2 weeks.