Running in the Fog

The best term for it when we were growing up was "pea soup", winter valley fog. This morning we were right smack in the middle of the pot. Those that are not familiar with the type of fog I am talking about, this is not the fog that billows and rolls over the Golden Gate Bridge on a summer evening, this is a dense, can't see the house across the street type of fog. This is the type of fog that causes 90 car pile ups on the major freeway linking Northern to Southern California. Today the fog got thicker as the morning progressed. With this fog, you are chilled to the core of your body because it is a damp, soggy cold. I would rather be out teaching in temperatures that are freezing with the sun shining than a winter foggy day.

The plan for the PE department today was to run the mile and we stuck to the plan despite the fog and the whining from the students. My co-workers and I laughed at the scene. The fog was so think, you could not see the other side of the track, little alone any of the grass area beyond the track (the students run a cross country type of mile, some on the track and some on the grass). For the first class I was at the finish line and I could not see the students at the starting line, just across the track. We were worried about students cheating and cutting part of the course and not being able to catch them because we could not see them. I think the students thought about cheating but I think they were too scared to run to an area that they could not see. They would not know if a teacher would be there waiting for them. It did cross my mind that if a student got injured on the course we may not be able to find him. 3rd period I was the timer and I could not see anything past 30 yards from my nose. I knew there were students running out on the course so I took the megaphone and said the time so they would know how much time they had left. During 4th period I was stationed at one of the cones far out on the grass field where the students needed to run around before going to the next cone. I heard a group of students yell to each other when they were running towards me, "I know where we are to run to, but I can't see where we are running too. Does anyone see the cone?" I picked up the cone and used it as a bull horn and yelled, "keep running, the cone is this way". After about 10 seconds the lead group of boys came into view and ran around the cone I was at. I pointed them exactly in the direction they needed to go next.

By the time 4th period was finished, the laughter of seeing the students run in the fog escaped us because we were all cold to the core of our being. Thankfully it was lunch, we all warmed up. Somehow during lunch, the sun had the victory over the fog and we went out to our next class and it was crystal clear and not a trace of fog.