Thursday, May 30, 2013

Youngsters in the Mist... and in Our Midst

Here is something I wrote for the MCRR newsletter.


We often celebrate the accomplishments of the top runners in the club. Many of these folks have been around long enough to actually accumulate some accolades. Once in a while, however, we ought to take notice of what some of our younger club members are doing.

Patrick Fisher has been in the club since about the time it started. He was just beginning high school at the time, and already had a passion for running. Many of us have had the pleasure to observe his progress throughout his high school and early college years. Pat’s coaches have had to keep after him, however; he tends to run and race too much! That’s what happens when you have a mom like Shannon and spend time around Roy Heger. Although Pat concentrates on his studies and his college running, he came around in March to win the Buzzard Day 25K race.

Many of us have also been fortunate enough to be able to watch Alan Dravenstott run, almost from the time he got started back in elementary school. It appears to be safe to say that Alan is more responsible for his dad, Harold’s running progress, than the other way around. Like Patrick’s coaches, Harold is trying hard to keep Alan from running too much and hurting himself or burning out. Now in middle school, Alan is running strong, and evidently enjoying every minute of it. So are we.

Debbie and Rob Scheel’s daughters, Emily and Elissa are still in grade school, but are already running extremely well. Debbie and Rob will bring the entire family to a 5K on occasion, and the two girls usually run strong. Like a lot of kids, Emily and Elissa have several interests. They do especially well at skating, but of course their running is still improving as well.

There are many other young folks in the club; sorry to have to stop talking about them here. Watch any of them run; it’s a blast. But beware: their enthusiasm for the sport is highly contagious.

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