C*********p 发帖数: 213 | 1 http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/12-year-old-trail-running-phe
Welsch, a Houston-area seventh grader, won the women’s field to become the
youngest ever champion of an XTERRA trail half-marathon, placing 11th
overall with a time of 1:39:31. Two minutes back was 42-year-old Claudia
Spooner, an Ironman triathlete known for running away from the other females
at XTERRA races across Texas ("I think she was sick that day," offers
Katylynn). In third place after Spooner came Katylynn’s kid sister, Heather
—the Serena to Katylynn's Venus—who’s all of 10.
For most adult runners, racing for two years puts you firmly in the novice
camp, but when you're 12 and have been competing since you were nine, you've
already been at it for a quarter of your life. "We first noticed she was
fast when she was six," recalls her father, Rodney. "Katylynn just took off
running around the block. You expect a kid that age to stop, but she kept
going. I was out of breath trying to keep up." Back then, Katylynn dabbled
in all the usual after-school sports: softball, ballet, and soccer before
entering her first kiddy triathlon. "She didn't put any effort into it all:
no cap, no goggles, a single-speed bike. Another parent who saw her told us,
'Your kid is incredibly fast. So I put her in a 5k, and she won her age
group. She's not the biggest character out there—she only weighs about 56
pounds."
The next year, Katylynn ran two marathons, including the Houston Marathon,
which she finished in 3:45 before her result was DQed (you have to be 12
years old to officially run the race). And she went on to notch top-three
female finishes at a 10k and 15k trail race and took second overall (with
Heather hot on her trail) at another XTERRA Texas trail run. | x******9 发帖数: 1866 | | d******0 发帖数: 22800 | |
|