Victory at the GSU Great Baby Race!

We had a very proud family moment last weekend – L.J. won the Georgia State University Great Baby Race!

The what?? This year was GSU’s fifth annual baby race, where crawling babies race across the basketball court at halftime. First one to mid-court wins!

It was senior day and the last home game of GSU’s winning season – first sellout crowd in years! Packed to the rafters is a very apt description.

There were eight babies competing this year, ranging in age from 9 months to 15 months. At halftime the babies were lined up with one parent at the foul line. The other parent waited at mid-court. Ready…set…go!

The distance was approximately 25 feet and it was more challenging than it appeared! The babies had about a million distractions with all the noise and commotion, and they couldn’t hear their finish line parent calling to them.

There were several starts and stops, and a few babies became overwhelmed and didn’t make it past the start line. L.J. had a few stops and starts himself…but I finally got his attention and he shot off like a rocket! A bottle of orange Gatorade turned out to the be the perfect bribe :)

As he neared the finish line, he stopped to check out the scenery. He was so close!! I pulled out a bigger bribe – my phone, of course – and that was just the coaxing he needed. Across the finish line he came, victorious!

What a momentous moment for Mike! He has been looking forward to L.J. participating in this race since before he was born. His reaction when L.J. crossed the finish line says it all!

The Georgia State Panther Nation student fan club – all of whom know Mike – were also very excited for L.J.’s victory!

L.J. received a commemorative trophy that’s taller than he is and three tickets to Zoo Atlanta. Way to go buddy – we are so proud of you!!

The thrill of victory continued the next morning when Mike and I watched the 11:00 news clips we recorded. L.J. was featured on video and by name on the local ABC and NBC news stations!! What fun it was for us to see our family featured on prime time news!

Below is a video clip of the Great Baby Race from the local ABC news site (wsbtv.com). It’s longer than the clip shown on TV and provides a good overview of the race.

GSU Great Baby Race

Note: All photos were taken by Randy Wilson, game day photographer.