As Coach Whisler used to say, “It was a good day to run a race!” The temperature was finally not disgustingly hot. We trained hard last week but had the weekend to rest and an easy day (3 ish miles) yesterday. But most of all, these runners made decisions. They decided to go out today and compete. I’ve only written a race report like this one other time in my years of coaching… but every single Bear ran either a Season Best or a Personal Best today. They just GOT IT DONE.
The Jr Bears were on fire. All five ran personal best times. All five medaled. Ian and Jaelynn broke the school course records, with Ian posting the overall school record – running his 2-mile in under 12 minutes. Maklyn took 1:11 off her PR, Annabelle beat her goal by 0:25 and Clark not only earned a medal but also beat his PR by 0:49. The girls team won their race, with a score of 10! So proud of these 5 kids and the work they have put in.
Julia, Katie, and Israel all earned Season Best times. They were focused and high-energy. These girls have earned a medal at this meet every year (Izzy and Julia X3 and Katie X2.) Watching them run today reminded me so much of watching them at the state meet last year. It was the same kind of determination; they made a decision before the race and did the work to see it through. Kyler’s PR made a HUGE jump (4:28!) Lanae broke 30 minutes for the first time. Julia broke the junior course record, which had been held by her sister Olivia for 2 years.
Sebi dipped below 19 min for the first time this season. He has developed a “relaxed” running style that looks almost effortless as he gets stronger each week. He was the boys’ lone medalist. Ben and Isaac earned PRs again. They are working hard at practice; training with Sebi when they can. They are intentional: strategizing and setting process goals. It’s working. Ben is seconds away from breaking 20 and Isaac earned a giant PR, improving by 1:02. Leland didn’t know if he could run- he’s been congested and wheezy. He asked what he should do if he couldn’t breathe during the race (my advice was to STOP). He wanted to give it a try and ran his best time of the season. Noah continues to impress his teammates by never giving up. He passed 4 runners in the last mile as they faded, he maintained pace and added in surges to pass. He was rewarded with his first 5k in under 30 minutes.
