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Sheila Reid beats Shannon Rowbury at the line in the 1500 meters at the 2017 Oxy distance classic in Los Angeles. 4:07.07 #athlete ... Trackandfieldimage.com ... #jeffcohenphoto #sheilareid #shannonrowbury #tracknation #trackandfield #athletics #trackgirls #nikerunning #usatf #athleticscanada #oregontc #womensrunning #1500meters @shewolfruns @iaafofficial @athleticscanada @shannonrowbury (at Los Angeles, California)

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Travelling to London 29 weeks pregnant? I'm a Reid, and we've done crazier...

Over the last several weeks, many people have enthusiastically passed along great wishes to all of us for Sheila's success in London. When talking to me, the inevitable next question always seems to be: "But you're not going, are you?" Third trimester or not, I would risk having a British child to see Sheila run those 14 1/2 laps of the track (hopefully twice!). (Please don't call the authorities, my doctor agrees that this is totally fine). I suppose that the reason that I don't think much of this is because we've done so many crazier things over the years in order to cheer Sheila on.

'V' for Villanova! Katie, Maggie, me and Jason, NCAA X-C Championships, 2009.

Here are what I believe might be the top five craziest things that members of our family have done to be there in person to see Sheila race:

5) MOM AND DAD- THE GREAT AMERICAN ROADTRIPPERS

Over the last several years, our amazing parents have spent days in the car, in airports, on planes and sitting in the stands for those twenty (or less) minutes of awesome racing. They have been to some of the most exciting cities in the great US of A (New York! Philadelphia!) and some other places where they got to see Sheila run really really fast (College Station, TX, Akron, OH and Des Moines, IA, to name a few). On many of these trips to Big East and NCAA Championships they were blessed to share in the joy of Sheila's personal bests or title wins and, on others, they were blessed to share Sheila's disappointment in not reaching her goal. No matter the outcome or the distance, if there was any remote chance they could be there, our parents have made the trip.

4) DRIVING TO LOUISVILLE, KY FOR ONE NIGHT

Last October, our dad was unable to be mom's road trip buddy for the Big East Championships in Louisville, KY so I went with her instead. We drove over 20 hours out of 36 just to spend about 20 minutes with Sheila and watch a race that lasted less than 20 minutes as well. Crazy? Not only was it worth it to be there for her last Big East X-C win, but we had dinner at the Olive Garden.

3) TERRE HAUTE THREEPEAT

My husband, Jason, and I have driven to and from Terre Haute, IN three times for a race that is held on a Monday every year which has meant taking unpaid days from work to, once again, watch a 20 minute race. We've had a few others join us (Katie, Maggie and Uncle Dave) and made great memories travelling to and from the "Crossroads of America", the most incredible of which were the fact that we got to see our sister win 4 NCAA X-C titles on those trips (two team titles- 2009 and 2010, and two individual titles- 2010 and 2011). Our craziest mission to Terre Haute is worthy of being further down on the list.

Sheila with fellow Wildcats and coaches Gina Procaccio and Meghan Shaner celebrating a 3rd place team finish, NCAA X-C 2011.

2) TRAVELLING TO JAPAN

In 2006 Sheila travelled to Fukuoka, Japan as part of the Canadian Junior National Cross Country Team for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Dad travelled with her, which meant many days spent alone exploring the streets of the city as Sheila bonded with her teammates and trained for the big race. Definitely worth it just to see her wearing the red and white for the first time!

1) TERRE HAUTE, 2009

In November, 2009, Katie, Maggie Jason and I met our friends Kat Caruana and Dan Cave to see Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band on the final stop of their "Working on a Dream" tour in Buffalo, NY on a Sunday night. The show was legendary and, by the time we got to the car at 12:30am, we were exhausted from singing and dancing for 3+ hours. Like the Reids we are, we drove through the night to Terre Haute, IN to cheer Sheila on at NCAA Cross Country Championships. We arrived at the race course in plenty of time (Mom and Dad flew down and met us there with Starbucks coffees!), got the thrill of seeing the Wildcats win the team title and then had to retrace our steps back to Toronto on no sleep. This trip was not complete without a speeding ticket at 5am somewhere outside of Columbus, OH, a couple of sister arguments and a LOT of Tim Horton's coffee.

Coach Hugh Cameron and Sheila, NCAA X-C 2009.

I am sure that these experiences are very relatable to anyone who has loved someone that has dreams as big as Sheila's. The road to realizing the Olympic dream is filled with many bumps, expert coaching, fantastic teammates, a supportive family and a LOT of hard work. So, in summary, travelling to London while quite pregnant actually seems like one of the less crazy things that we've all done to be a part of "Team Sheila". Just a few more days until we get there, we can't wait!!

Theresa

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