The opening that Jessica and Miles did for the start of the Year of the Rabbit "competition" was at Animalia's city hall building and served as a starting point for the race, which was the first event. Thus, why both were in more track and field gear. The race would then run from there to the Claw Coliseum where the rest of the events would be held, and where most of the audience was actually watching from the live feeds that the other members of Animalia Ambassadoria were providing to cover the race. Jessica's and Roger and Codey's parents were there and waiting for everyone to arrive, largely because while things were a bit warmer, it wasn't by much and they didn't want to be outside in cold weather.
For the Rabbit Animalians, that wasn't as much of a problem as they still had their winter coats grown in. For Jessica, it meant extra bits of floofy white fur at the waistline for her shorts and top of the sports bra she was wearing that could double as a tank top. For Miles, Roger, Codey, and the other male Rabbit Animalians, some of the itchiness or fluffed up fur wasn't as much of an issue, as a lot of their track gear wouldn't need to be as tight, an advantage males had in not having breasts, particularly not having large ones that always lactated as female Animalians did. And as Jessica looked over the competitors, which were split between male and female, she knew that somethings would be tough for all.
For the males, Miles, even a younger age, would have some degree of a natural advantage in the race. Jackrabbits had longer legs and feet than all other Lapines, and he was the only Blacktailed Jackrabbit in Animalia. The Animalia Zoo had also had a pair of Snowshoe Hares, and they were competing, but the Snowshoe Hare's greatest advantage was that its feet were able to spread out like snowshoes and allow it to escape Lynx and Bobcats going through deep but soft snow. And while there was some snow on the ground in places, it wasn't deep enough to matter, and neither was it icy enough to give them a major edge. The rest of the males were all either uplifted or converted Domestic Rabbit Animalians, Mountain Cottontail Animalians, and then there were four Desert Cottontail Animalians that particularly stood out. One was that they wore a tee-shirt that had a military patch on the shoulder, and the insignia looked a bit like a rabbit. The other was that Ernie, Winston, Edward, and William had Morgan Laurens chatting with all of them.
Jessica remembered meeting Morgan while working in preparation for these competitions. Back then, it'd seemed like Morgan was only there for some minor exercise and got tired after a few rounds of mild exercises, though because someone managed to film that and posted it online, Jessica figured that it must have lit a candle under Morgan to compete. Of course, some of it might be the four male Desert Cottontail Animalians. All military veterans, they might not have the long legs that Miles had, but they'd also had a longer active life and training that probably gave them a better degree of endurance than most other Animalians. Jessica and Roger's only real worries were making it to class on time, Ernie, Winston, Edward, and William had likely had plenty of sprints, marching on little sleep, and have to do all sorts of things under fire that would tax even the fittest Human, and probably most Animalians if they tried.
"Of course," Jessica thought to herself, "this competition won't all be won in one event. The points will all add up."
The one person that Jessica figured might actually give Ernie, Winston, Edward, and William a run for their money in terms of training and building up stamina would be Mr. Shikamatsu, who Jessica saw giving his wife a kiss on the cheek while Michiko kissed Codey's cheek. Of course, being a master martial artist from various schools had a different skill set than what the four Desert Cottontails had in the military, but Jessica figured that years of training would ultimately add to it. Her thoughts were then startled when she heard some steps coming up behind her and then felt a very familiar nose nuzzle into her cheek.
"Good luck, Roger," Jessica couldn't help but smile and turned her head to nuzzle her muzzle to Roger's, "and no matter what, you'll be the best to me."
"And you to me, I'll see you at the finish line," Roger answered and then moved toward the starting line.
"Just make sure you aren't too aroused when these babies come bouncing in," Jessica teased him and arched her back to emphasize her bust to him.
"I'm afraid you'd have that effect on me, regardless of whether or not you were running," Roger answered, "I knew you were beautiful from the day we met."
Jessica smiled back at that memory. The sort of welcome party that was designed to help many of the new Animalians meet each other and help them meet the people that lived in Lyre, and meeting Roger there. Back then, as only a single dosed Animalian and only fourteen, Jessica didn't quite compare to Sarah, Malice, or Abby as they were all double dosed, but Roger stuck to her as she grew up and grew into her present adult build. All the while, she found her heart singing more and more for Roger, and she smiled to him as he got in line with the other male Rabbit Animalians for the start of the race. He was placed next to Rockwall, whose size dwarfed all the other Rabbit and Hare Animalians there.
From there, all Jessica could do was weight. The males would start first on the run to the Claw Coliseum and she and the females would then follow along behind after the males passed the halfway point. It wasn't a race that would be over in seconds, but the distance wasn't too great. And while not every Rabbit Animalian was competing, as Judy and Bunni Clair, that didn't mean that there wasn't interested in following the events. Judy wasn't competing as she didn't see any reason to, and Bunni didn't want to leave Owen unattended and was content to root for her husband with Owen perched on her shoulders. And the nature of the overall competition also allowed for it. There were a fair number of Rabbit Animalians, even before the "bimbos" arrived, that all didn't need to compete, and to a degree there also wasn't the same level of competitiveness among the Rabbit Animalians to try and get everyone in.
Some of that also posed to make for a quicker tournament this year than last year. Because the Year of the Tiger competition included elements of direct combat, that competition had actually gone on for far longer than the previous ones, largely to give those competing time to heal after the matches. The Year of the Rabbit competition wouldn't have that, and that would leave the biggest thing to handle being the time for the competition and all the contestants. The race would be the easiest one, but even with the other parts of it, Jessica figured they couldn't get all of it done in the space of a couple of days, three at most, which would be good for her, Roger, and Codey, who were all missing out on college time to attend the competition. Hercules and Tuxing were also present to offer the starts for the races, and Jessica was ready for it, though Hercules would start the male's race and Tuxing would start the female's race.
"You ready run, Jess?" came a voice coming up as Jessica watched Hercules raise his hand to start the male's race.
Jessica looked back to see Shyra and Hunni Bunni approaching. Both were also in track gear, though Hunni Bunni's was noted in blue and gold colors, likely for Ukraine. She could hear the males get started and so she slowly began to walk forward while looking over to friends that she had made. Shyra, who had put the moves on her father one night while she'd been learning to drive, took a bit of time, but as Jessica finished growing up and Shyra learned to moderate herself, things got better. Hunni Bunni, who'd become something of an adoptive sister after her conversion, was a bit easier, and was getting better, not just at English but also at her native Ukrainian.
"Yeah, I am," Jessica replied back as they approached the starting position and overhearing some of the cheers as the males got started, "You?"
"I am!" Hunni Bunni smiled, "Put all muscles to use."
Jessica smiled at that as she and other females took their spot on the starting line, and looked to Tuxing who was holding a walkie-talkie and had her hand raised, waiting to give the signal to start.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ahead of them, Roger was running as hard as he could, and was largely managing to keep up fairly well. The route to the Claw Coliseum wasn't too complicated and wasn't necessarily that far. The turns on various streets, which had been closed to allow for the race, helped add some other challenges to the race. It wouldn't be a straight contest of speed but also bringing in agility and endurance, which matched what mundane rabbits in the wild needed to escape predators. Many of their common predators could actually achieve higher top speeds, particularly when looking to animals like wolves or coyotes with their much longer legs and longer stride. But that added size could hamper their agility and ability to make sharp turns, and mundane wild rabbits often had to dart and make those sorts of sharp turns in order to keep the predator from closing in to bite the rabbit.
The race couldn't fully duplicate that, but it was a decent effort to add that issue of turning corners to the race. And so far, no one had slipped, though the Snowshoe Hare Animalians were better used to the potential for snowy and icy ground conditions and Roger found that Miles as a Jackrabbit Animalian had the legs and stride to attain even greater speeds in the straightaway sections. It was something that Roger and Codey could only match thanks to the lessons they'd gotten at Mr. Shikamatsu's dojo. It helped them with breathing techniques and being able to sustain their top speed, which Miles wasn't able to do as well. And that often-let Roger and Codey pass Miles at the corners, and even build a lead as they passed the halfway point in the race.
The one that really seemed to struggle with the race was Rockwall. Roger hadn't had a chance to really meet him, and from what he could see was that the male Giant Flemish Rabbit Animalian wasn't out of shape and didn't seem to be breathing too hard. However, the race with its turns and length seemed to provide and added point where being "bigger" wasn't always better. In terms of a pure contest of strength, Roger figured the only other Rabbit Animalian that could probably come close to Rockwall was Hunni Bunni, which while Hunni Bunni wasn't a Flemish Giant, there were some guesses that enduring the nuclear radiation that had come out of the Chernobyl meltdown boosted her size and musculature when she converted and very nearly matched Rockwall, who was a Flemish Giant. However, that added muscle didn't necessarily mean increased speed, as there were only so much room for said muscle and that would in turn provide limitations. Which was in part why among cats, Cheetahs were not very bulky when compared to other cats they competed with in Africa.
Though, Roger couldn't dwell too much on that as he continued run along the route. Some of it was that Codey was starting to pull ahead of him, and they were among a fairly large group that was all trailing after the four Desert Cottontail Animalians, Ernie, Winston, Edward, and William with only Mr. Shikamatsu proving to be the only one really keeping up with them, and occasionally passing Winston, who was at the tail end of the four male Desert Cottontail Animalians. But those four veterans retained good shape and ran hard and stayed ahead of even Mr. Shikamatsu. It was something showed how well their military training had come into play for endurance and speed. Roger watched as he could see some of the Claw Coliseum's employees at the finish line that was now fast approaching. Behind them was a small stand that would allow those watching the race outside see the results, and those inside the Claw Coliseum could likely see them as well on the screens there.
Roger could see as William finished first with Ernie, Edward, and then Winston followed. Mr. Shikamatsu followed close behind Winston. Then came Codey and Miles, then Roger and the male Snowshoe Hare Animalian, along with a few of the others before Rockwall came up toward the end. Though as Roger noted on the screen, a lot of the differences in the times between them wasn't all that great. Rockwall may not have been the fastest, but he wasn't slow, and his time was really only relative to the rest of the male Rabbit Animalians. Roger watched as Bunni came forward with Owen on her shoulders. From what he could see, Owen looked older and stronger, though Roger didn't know how old the Human boy was, but Bunni Clair also looked strong, and both seemed happy.
"Saving the best for last, I see," Bunni said to him as she hugged Rockwall and had Owen lean over her head to hug Rockwall's ears.
"I didn't expect to be the fastest," Rockwall answered with a small smile, "I'm just happy to be here."
"You'll catch up in other areas," Owen said to him, "you're very smart and mom loves you."
Rockwall only smiled back, "and having you and Bunni supporting me... that's all that matters."
Roger chuckled a little bit, but the Clair family was happy, and, in many ways, he hoped that he and Jessica would have just as happy a family in the future. Just as he was sure that Codey hoped for happiness with Michiko. He turned back to Codey who was resting with his hands on his knees.
"You did well brother," Roger said to him.
"Thanks, bro," Codey smiled, "though... we didn't win."
"Yeah... but I really don't think anyone was going to beat those four veterans that became Desert Cottontails," Roger admitted, "they had to be in great shape and did a lot of running BEFORE they converted. Even Master Shikamatsu couldn't pass them for long..."
"And he only caught up with the slowest of their group briefly," Codey nodded, "though... the kid who took over from you and Jessica on Animalia Ambassadoria did well."
"Miles is a Jackrabbit," Roger noted, "longer legs and a longer stride."
Codey nodded and the two of them looked to wait for the others to arrive, as by now the female's race had to have started. Some of the screens that were set up let Roger follow the race as cameras set up at street corners to then follow the race, and as the female Rabbit Animalians as they ran along the route, and this would progress as they passed intersections. It wasn't too long before the females came up the street and clear to see Roger and everyone that was watching. Yumi actually lead the way with Mrs. Shikamatsu and Michiko were then battling for second while Jessica was a few steps behind them. There were a few others that were around where Jessica was, though Roger noted that Hunni Bunni and a female Desert Cottontail Animalian were in a fairly tight race for the middle of the pack. The one that Roger couldn't see immediately was Shyra. Eventually he spotted her toward the rear, and looking more like she was trying to hold her top on as she run. It was surprising and left Roger with questions as Jessica crossed the finished line and practically hopped into his arms.
"You waited for me?" Jessica said with surprise as she kissed Roger.
"Of course, I would wait for you at the finish line," Roger answered, "a lot of what will come up next will require changing out of the track gear we're in right now... and can you blame me for wanting to talk to the prettiest bunny in Animalia?"
Jessica smiled a bit at that, though she overheard something going on between Codey and Michiko.
"To me... you're the prettiest," Codey said to Michiko.
"Dad would say the same thing about mom," Michiko replied.
Roger noted this too, but kept his focus on Jessica, largely because of his questions on what had happened with Shyra and how she'd apparently fallen so far behind in the female's race.
"Though... I must ask on what happened with Shyra?" Roger asked, "from things you've told me that she's emailed you while we were at college... that she's been training... so?"
Jessica giggled a bit and looked over her other shoulder to Shyra, who had arrived and looked a bit embarrassed.
"Well, let's just say she sort of bounced out of her bra," Jessica snickered a bit.
"And I will be sending a protest to the company," Shyra answered, "their advertisement said it would be firm but comfortable and perfect for athletic movement."
"And instead, just after we got started, it slid up and she accidentally flashed everyone at the starting line," Jessica answered.
"And I had to finish the race holding it down and back to make sure I wasn't flashing everyone along the route," Shyra added, "I mean... it's fun at the Meat Market, but even I know that this competition wasn't about that."
"Well... at least the scores are all cumulative," Roger offered, getting the sense that Shyra was a bit embarrassed by what happened, "so depending on how the other events go, you could still win."
"Assuming I don't get booted because of bad advertising," Shyra grumbled.
"Come on, let's get ready," Jessica offered, "there will be some time before the next round... but that doesn't mean we have time to dawdle."