Runners

No. 64 [Runners]

James RogersLeave a comment
Noah
Photo by James Rogers

“During my senior year when we broke our school 4×800 record, I got to anchor that team, and when I got the baton, I knew we were cutting it really close. So, I took it out hard. I came around, and coach was screaming at me: ’54, 54!’ I had never gone nearly that fast before, but I’m like, All right, well, just gotta keep going now. I get around 200 meters left, and I hear my principal yelling, ‘You’re a beast! You’re an animal!’ That gave me the confidence to just keep going. Finished the race strong, we broke the record by a second—7:58.73. Coach had me splitting a 1:54.8 on his watch, and that was by far my fastest. It was a good race.”

Nos. 61, 62 & 63 [Runners]

James RogersLeave a comment
Nos. 61, 62 & 63
Photo by James Rogers

“Last year at this meet [the Spartan Invite], there was us three and two others. She was running, and one of our other girls tried to jump and pull her pants down, and she fell, and she fell. And she was running behind them and trips over the two that fell. I was running and saw them all fall, and I was laughing so hard my knees gave out, and I fell. Our fifth girl turns around and looks at all of us laying on the ground, and all she says is, ‘Get off the ground.’ … It was our cool-down, we had just finished our race. … I couldn’t breathe I was laughing so hard.”

[Note: There was a lot of pointing and “she” claims going on during the story, so I thought I’d clarify that yes, four girls were down.]

No. 60 [Runners]

James RogersLeave a comment
Caitlyn
Photo by James Rogers

“My two cousins have cerebral palsy, and they’re my biggest supporters. One of my cousins can’t walk at all, and it’s our goal to do a race together at some point. We don’t have a racing strategy for her yet, but I would love to do one with her, like a road race. Hopefully start doing those when we’re older. … Any time I’m in a race and I’m dying, or thinking about how much my legs hurt, I just think about how lucky I am to have legs that allow me to run, and I praise God. … They’re 21. They’re like my older sisters.”