Local girls’ running club is readying for the Firecracker 5K
Warning: watch out for the pink-shirted girls running in the July 4th Firecracker 5K in Highland Falls!
Why should you watch out for them? Because, unlike many of the runners and walkers in this particular race, they’ve been training for it specifically since early February.
The girls are members of the Fast & Furious Running Club, created by O’Neill High School soon-to-be junior Erin Smith. Smith, a runner on the O’Neill cross country, Winter and Spring Track teams, is on a mission to help more girls learn to love running.
So, she started a club for local fifth, sixth and seventh grade girls. You may have seen them training in the Roe Park area through the late Winter and Spring, sometimes running long distances slowly, sometimes running short distances quickly, and even sometimes walking. What was always consistent … the smiles. These young ladies are happy to be together, happy to be active, and happy to have Smith’s — and co-coach Carly Vanzetta’s — leadership.
On the ‘team’ are the following young ladies: Maggie Armstrong, Samantha, Veronica and Marilyn Wolf, Khloe Boyce, Addison Falk, Carmen Kamel, Evelyn Vanzetta, Abby Sawicki, and Malia and Dominique Stewart.
They’re all there for different reasons. For instance, the three Wolf girls have all run 5Ks before, including a recent one in Maryland, where Marilyn finished in 43 minutes, Samantha finished in 33 minutes and Veronica outpaced them all at about the 27 minute mark. All are also involved in other sports, they say that running helps them compete better in those as well.
Boyce says she liked to run before joining the Fast & Furious girls, but likes it more now that she’s learned some tricks from Smith.
Malia Stewart (sister Dominique couldn’t be at last Thursday’s training session when the girls were interviewed) was honest about why she joined — “mom wanted us to be healthy,” she said. She finds she’s enjoying running now more than she did at the beginning of the club.
Armstrong finds that she prefers longer, slower distances, like the 5K, to the shorter, faster runs. She says she’s nearly ready for the July 4 race, but, in training, sometimes has to walk a bit.
Kamel, whose favorite subjects in school are math followed by gym, says she doesn’t hate the days when gym teachers Tim Hendershot or Brian Arduino make them run.
Falk is glad she joined — she initially only did because her cousin Evelyn wanted her to. VanZetta says she is looking forward to the 5K.
The girls train twice a week. After the 5K, they’ll keep it up through the summer (moving to the O’Neill track for their workouts), but will take a break in the Fall when Smith has to concentrate on her own cross country season.
Smith, by the way, says she’s learned from the girls as they’ve trained. And, she’s proud of them.
“A lot of the girls who finished our first practice 5K in the 40s (minutes) are now in the 30s,” she said. “And some who were in the 30s are now in the 20s.”
Smith, who ran her first Firecracker 5K when she was six with a time of “about 38 minutes”, now runs a 5K “in the low 20s” consistently.
So, when you see the girls in the hot pink shirts — with their names in the sparkly blue on the back — on the morning of July 4, not only should you get out of their way, but, cheer them on. They deserve it!
Girls who would like to join the team once the 5K has come and gone can contact Smith at 08eesmith@gmail.com.
