With the 5th Go Far race just one month away, it was an honor to receive a letter of recognition from First Lady Michelle Obama. The words of the letter inspire and help us realize that the work behind Go Far and creating a strong running community is truly worth the effort. The success of Go Far depends on a two major factors: That our local youth feel empowered to realize that a fit lifestyle will help them Go Far in life, and that the adults are here to serve, support and mentor the youth as they grow through our programs.
My childhood memories begin to get really fuzzy anytime prior to the seventh grade. Oddly enough, it’s probably the not-so-great memories that stick in my head better than the rest; like the time I got beat up by the kid from the wrong side of the tracks with a pillow polo stick (yes, a pillow polo stick can hurt). Being a photographer, I have cheated my kids out of fuzzy memories because I have captured so many of them that would have otherwise been forgotten over time. When I see an experience amounting into what would be considered a pinnacle memory, my lens and my concentration becomes uber focused. I have come to really respect the value of these moments.
Today, Kate ran the 800 meter at a track meet. She doesnt hide the fact that she is the family’s more reluctant runner. In this home, we are keenly aware that she could quite possible read 1000 pages faster than any of us could run a marathon. It’s her passion. But on this raw day, she put the book down so she could make strides off the pages of a book. There were no throngs of people cheering; the people that were there, just wanted to be in their cars with the seat-heater on. As a photographer, I wouldn’t have characterized it as a pinnacle picture type of day, but I have learned to stay aware. The top runners would leap ahead and there would be no exciting photo finish with my daughter breaking the tape first. Nonetheless, Kate would finish and I would cheer like she had just medaled in the Olympics. In my mind, the crowd roared even if everyone else around me just sat shivering as the rain started to fall. Kate’s coach, knowing the girl, approached my reluctant runner and hugged her whole-heartedly. The pinnacle moment had come, so I snapped the shutter. In that moment, an affirmation of one’s abilities was realized and rewarded in the form of a hug. Once again, I realized that the most photo-worthy moments don’t usually happen during the show-stopping high note; you need to look for the nuance that gets to the heart of the matter. While this memory would have grown fuzzy over passing time, it’s now locked in and justified in life’s bigger picture. Shoreline conference winner Jessica Drop competed this past weekend at the New Balance National Championships at the Armory Indoor Track and Field, in New York City. The sophomore, representing Coginchaug High School, finished 22 overall in a time of 2:15.53. Some athletes at the event performed to new national and meet records. This meet sets a standard for elite class running at the high school level. Coginchaug Running Times caught up with Jess to ask her a few questions about her running.
1. You’ve done a lot of sports, how did you end up choosing running? I still do play soccer in the fall and spring seasons and at first chose to start to do track to stay on shape during the off season. After one season I started to enjoy the sport and wanted to continue and work harder to get even better. 2.What’s your advice to younger runners coming up? I would tell them to never give up when things start to get hard and it should make them work even harder to get to the goal that they are striving for. I believe if you work hard anything can be possible. 3. What’s the best running advice you have ever been given? The best advise I have ever been given is that I should always enjoy myself because if I don't then it's not worth doing. 4.Do you have a pre-race plan that helps you to achieve your best race? I don't really have a pre-race plan except that I also have the mind set that I will go into every race striving to do the best that I can and that will be good enough for me if I achieve that at the end if the race that's I know that I have done everything I could have done in that race. 5. You run the 800 in indoor track. Is that your favorite distance? I actually had run a 1000 meter race all during indoor season and started to enjoy running that distance yet I also really did enjoy running the 800 meter again at nationals being one of my favorite distances. 6.Favorite running gear or accessory? My favorite running gear would be running sneakers because they are what I depend on and bring everywhere with me. 7. Favorite music to get you running? I actually don't like running with music. 8. Who's your biggest inspiration? My biggest inspiration would be my sister Sam since she had been the one to first get me started with my running career and I wouldn't be having this much success without her. She has actually has taught me how to not to hate to run as much as I used to and has made it enjoyable to go train. Her hard work and dedication to running inspires me everyday to work even harder and to never give up. 9. What’s one of your best running memories? One of my best running memories would have to be when the 4 x 800 had smashed the school record at state open by 7 seconds. It was a great feeling to accomplish this with such amazing team mates. 10. Your future…Any big running plans or hopes? My running career for the future is to continue to run indoor and outdoor track throughout my high school career. Although I do plan on playing soccer when I go to college but I may consider running college as well after how successful my past season had been for me. Submitted by Bailey Thayer
Coginchaug’s Indoor track team had quite the performance on Saturday’s Class S State Championship meet at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven. Impressive girl performances include sophomore Jess Drop’s 1st place finish in the 1000m run with a time of 3:03 and junior Bailey Thayer’s 3rd place finish in the 600m run with a time of 1:43.03. Senior Bailey Maus finished 4th in both the 55m hurdles and long jump and sophomore Sam Drop finished 6th in the 1600m run with a time of 5:34.64. All the relay teams performed exceptionally. The 4 by 800m and 4 by 400m both finished 3rd. 4 by 800 members include captain Tara Dandelski, Bailey Thayer, Sam Drop and Jess Drop. The 4 by 400 members were Bailey Thayer, Janelle Berry, Bailey Maus and Jess Drop. Finishing 13th, the 4 by 200m team consisted of Kasi and Shaun Whitaker, Megan Decker and captain Megan Sirois. Other notable performances include freshmen Megan Decker’s 12th place finish in the 55m dash and 15th place finish in the 300m run. Freshmen Ali Alsup finished 14th in the 1600m run and sophomore Sam Vigue finished 13th in the 3200m run. With all their hard work and commitment, the Coginchaug girls earned themselves a 4th place finished out of over 30 schools. As for the Coginchaug Boys, great performances include senior Tyler Meeker and senior Michael Decker’s 300m run, finishing 5th and 7th. Sophomore Alec Bogan finished 7th in high jump with a final jump of 5’8” and senior Jack Temple finished 11th in the 600m run with a time of 1:31. 72. The 4 by 400m relay team, including Tyler Meeker, Zach Taylor, Jake Ober and Michael Decker, finished 10th and the Sprint Medley relay, including Zach Lein, West Benjunas, Ty Kartiganer and Jack Temple finished 11th. Alec Bogan, Ryan Bogan, Kyle Farrell and captain Christian Adams made up the 13th place 4 by 200m team. Other notable performances include Christian Adams’ 14th place finish in long jump with a jump of 18’6” and Nathaniel Weir’s shot put throw of 37’11”. Junior Christian Alberico was seeded to win the 1600m run, finish 3rd in the 3200m run and 10th in the 1000m run, but unfortunately could not race due to injury. Overall it was a day to remember for Coginchaug athletes and everyone is looking forward to the start of a successful outdoor track season. The girls 4 by 800m relay team will be competing in the state open championship next weekend. It's pretty likely that tomorrow you will eat more calories than you will burn. If your feeling ambitious, you're going to bundle up and head over to Hammo or Manchester for the Turkey Trot to try to put a dent into those extra calories. At least one of us at the race will be warm. The lucky guy that gets to wear the turkey costume will oh so toasty. It's a festive time of the year and we should all be thankful for many things. I could go through a long list of what I am thankful for, but many of you already know my mind. Giving thanks is not quite the same as being thankful. Giving thanks requires effort while the idea of being thankful suggest a state of mind. Instead of just being thankful, we need to act thankfully. To do this requires far more energy and more effort. How do we actively thank? It's pretty easy to do and it can change the entire mood of a place. So, take those excess calories and put them to proper use. If someone has made you a wonderful meal, roll up your sleeves and get scrubbing. When you cross the finish line, find the race director and thank him or her and then ask if you can do anything to help. If your mother drove you to the race, act thankful by doing something that will make her day easier or happier (like emptying the dishwasher). Do something... anything that shows you appreciate someone else's efforts by reciprocating with your own thoughtful actions. Thankful actions, both large and small make make everyday into Thanks-Giving.
We're all a bit guilty sometimes for taking our fortunate lives for granted in The United States. Think of this during your Veterans Day run today:
Photo by TODAY My husband Chris should be reaching his 100 marathon in the next few years. In his many years of marathoning, he has always said that he would be content if his drew his last breaths as a 96 year old while running what I am guessing would be his 250th marathon. He would be doing what he loves and knows best. While perhaps it may be a bit morbid in thought, it's not an unreasonable thought coming from him. On Monday, a news story broke about Joy Johnson and avid marathoner who at 86, decided to go lay down for a nap a day after the New York Marathon and passed away. She had spent the morning with her sister in New York visiting NBC news and having a nice chat with esteemed weatherman Al Roker. She had completed her 25th NYC Marathon just hours before in just under eight hours. Her daughter, Diana Boydston, told USA TODAY, "“I think she would be happy with this chain of events: to run her beloved New York Marathon, talk to her buddy Al, be there with her sister Faith. She told everyone she loved them before the race, and she was at peace.” So there you have it. Do what you love doing today and every day! Your passion may be running, knitting, photography, writing or dancing. The moral of the the story here is to seek out your passion and have no regrets. Wishing you godspeed Joy Johnson for a life well run.
See the article about Joy Johnson on TODAY here. Much like Star Wars...Strava Wars can foster an interesting relationship between a
father and son. My daughter and I came in from a run today and plopped down next to my husband who was watching the first finishers of the New York Marathon cross the line. While she was stretching (coaches be proud), Kate said, "Where's Peter, he's been out running forever?" After 10 more minutes, I looked out the window and saw Pete running up the hill. As he walked into the living room I asked, "Did you run to China?" He told me he was busy playing Strava. My eyes widened as I looked down at his iphone screen which said he ran 10.2 miles. Not sure whether to blurt out, "good job or you're just crazy", I just said "wow!", and then we all went back to watching the Kenyan kick everyone's heiny on the tv screen. My husband watched the top runners cross one by one over the line and I could see that squirley look in my spouses eyes, the same look he gets while watching the tour De France. It's the look of, "If I don't get out there and start riding (or running in today's case), I'll just about explode here in the living room." Peter then showed his dad his Strava route and the two of them pointed and conferred like they were Eisenhower and his cabinet plotting in the war room. Peter gulped down a glass of water and shook his fist at his father as he left the room and said, "Don't you dare run more than me today." The Strava game was on! As it turns out, my son has turned his real running life into a virtual video game. I guess he's no different from his dad, who's been doing this for years. Chris started logging his workouts onto Garmin Connect in 2006 and logged over 80,000 miles into that system(and I'm not talking about car mileage here). Now less than two years into Strava world, he has 15,000 miles logged there as well. Call it crazy, but there is great truth that comes in Strava numbers. While I may roll my eyes at the competitive Strava games my boys play with each other, I am pretty sure there is some validity to the results it fosters. There is no better tool (perhaps other than monitoring your heart-rate in training) to tell you how your training is going. The system gives you your splits, distances, courses, and times of you vs other Strava users on segmented courses. I swear the damn thing will even tell you how many snot rockets you can launch during your run! Anyway, my husband came home and ran 3/10 of a mile longer than my kid. Chris smiled as I shot him a look of disdain. Apparently, there is no mercy in Strava wars, even if your kid just turned 12 a couple of days ago. Chris remarked, "A real man never lets another man take his "KOM" without a fight( what's KOM?King of the mountain…see Strava.com) But I believe the revenge will be sweet when Peter turns 15 and the old man gets clocked by his kid's faster turnover. They often jokingly say to each other, "I'll crush your dreams" as they head out for their runs, but to be honest I think they are doing quite the opposite. They are somehow figuring out a way to come together. They have a father son relationship like few others and if Strava helps keep these boys together, this is one video game, I'll let them keep playing. By: CRHS Head Boys Coach-Dave Bellemere What you need to know... A while back, Susan Michaels, a teacher at CRHS helped create a group called the Coginchaug Track Supporters. This group was aimed at creating a track at the high school that could be a common ground for exercise for the residents of all ages and abilities in our community. Proudly, due to the efforts of this group and support from the community, Durham is now home to a world class track and field! Now the group is looking to aim its efforts at creating a closer running community that will not only take benefit from the wonderful new facility but also from their fellow runners. Running is a life long sport. There are many accomplishments and milestones that happen at different ages. While in the past, the efforts of this group has often benefited our high school running teams, it is clear that the more we support each other, the better all of our teams and individuals will perform. Were looking for members to support our initiatives. Here are some things on our to do list: To give proper recognition to the efforts of our runners for their accomplishments in their own wellness and for achieving milestones. To promote running as an important tool to a healthier and happy community. To get active running members of our community to join to make new friends and acquaintances. To create community wide running opportunities for all ages. To earn funds to supply track and field based equipment to maintain quality running teams. To have parents of children that run, including those from Go Far, Memorial, Strong and CRHS, to work together to empower our community of young athletes. To support and nurture the success of individual runners and championship teams. meeting on Tuesday November 5 at 6:30pm in the Durham Library.Submitted by Coach Dave Bellemere
Fifteen boys and their rookie Cross Country coach just closed out a season that was filled with fun, hard work, and results that covered the spectrum. As school started and our season got underway it was quickly evident that we would need to set realistic goals as to what we could accomplish. This was a young team and the majority of the returning runners were not able to log many miles over the summer. The exception was Christian Alberico who logged over 300 miles and attended the Green Mountain Running Camp. Captain Matt Fontaine worked hard to marshal the boys into summer work outs, but attendance was not stellar. I asked the boys to make steady improvement their main team goal and they did not disappoint me. Each race found individual runners progressing and lowering their 5K times. The gap between our #1 runner Christian and our following runners got smaller with each meet. I could not be more pleased with their effort. In the end the season was a Tale of Two Teams: Story 1 was that of complete dominance over the competition by Christian Alberico as he won 7 major meets and finished second in the prestigious Wickham Invitational. Story 2 was how hard the rest of the team worked to improve. This was a very diverse group of young men. Each athlete brought a unique perspective to the team, yet the mutual respect they had for each other was evident. They were a real pleasure to coach. Whatever I asked them to do they did without complaint. The boys have been discussing their plans and objectives for next season. Based on what I have heard I will predict that their competition will take notice of them. The fifteen athletes that have successfully completed the 2013 Cross Country season are Matt Fontaine, Ryan Gossart, Christian Alberico, Connor Stewart, Joe Ertle, Tyler McDonald, Alexander Staddon, Owen Tobin, Nate Sperl, Sam Marteka, Matt Woznyk, Josh Small, Faraz Harevi, Christopher Harlow, and Declan Keenan |
Jen schulten
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September 2015
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