Lucky Number 7

Sep 8, 2014
2 min read

There are seven musical notes, seven seas, seven days in a week, seven continents, seven dwarfs, seven lucky charms, seven deadly sins……. and the freaking heptathlon.

I recently signed up for my first multi event track meet and went in with absolutely zero expectations. Two days of embarrassing performances later, I managed to come out not only alive, but with seven new personal records and a free T-shirt. Mission success!

If you’ve never done a heptathlon and are interested in giving it a try, I would highly recommend the Vertical Adventures Heptathlon at Lenape HS in NJ. They run the meet on a weekend in the summer and also offer a decathlon for all you men out there. It’s an extremely friendly meet with encouragement and surprises coming from everyone. Shot putters channel their inner runners. Jumpers throw things. Distance runners pretend they can jump. It's all very entertaining.

That being said, the meet does have a few decent competitors in each event, so it’s not just for beginners by any means! Just go out and compete with yourself. You’ll be surprised by how much fun you have and maybe find a new event to add to your repertoire. Or you'll REALLY hate it and regret every decision you've ever made.

All in all, it was a great two-days. Friends were made and records were broken. It was perfect weather, and we were provided with complimentary drinks Wawa subs, so at least there's that! Oh, and did I mention the free draw string bag full of goodies?! (There was a free draw string bag full of goodies.) The event even provided free photos for all competitors, so, here you go.