Photo Finish

Arthur competed in the Hanshin track and field sports event today. He beat his target time of fifteen seconds for the 100 meters race with a time of 14.7 seconds. Although he came sixth, it is clear from this photograph that it was a very close-run race. Arthur is running in lane seven.

Kazuko and I have finally persuaded him to drop his idea of enrolling in baseball club because he has absolutely no experience of being in a baseball club before and, at thirteen, it is far to late to start training now. However, running is in our genes; Kazuko was a runner, Valerie was the fastest runner in her school three years in succession (prior to her, no one in the more than 100 year history of her school had won even two years in a row) and, of course, I am a runner too. So Arthur has agreed to join our local track and field club. He has a lot of work to do on his form, but one of the (monthly visiting) teachers at this club, Nobuharu Asaharu, is a three times Olympic champion who could help Arthur a lot. I believe Arthur has the potential to be a very good runner, if he puts in the effort. A big "if", of course.

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like muscles of the body." (Lynn Jennings)

Probably sounds a bit like we're making plans for Arthur, but he is actually very keen on joining the track and field club and hopes to be an Olympic competitor some day.