It’s officially summertime! Is anyone else watching their heat acclimation score on Garmin fluctuate over these last few weeks? No? Just me? It’s hot, then it’s cold…you’re in, then you’re out?…bad Katy Perry jokes aside, summer running can be hard when it’s hot out. And if you’re like me and prefer sleeping in over getting up before the sun to run, you might find yourself getting “heat acclimated” a lot quicker than you intended.
One thing that helps me get up in the morning is knowing that I’ll have someone to run with. I know, I know. I preach about accountability and how running buddies keep you showing up, BUT it’s true! I asked Tony to meet me before the TRC Track camp last week because 1) I would’ve slept in and waited ‘til later to run, which 2) would’ve been at a much lower effort because I’m lazy, and 3) I knew he would push me to run a little quicker and make for a higher quality run. Which he did. And I was dying running up Vineyard hill, but it was a solid run and was exactly what I needed for the day.
Some of our THS Track & Field Alumni and current collegiate athletes came back last week to help us put on our TRC Youth Running Camp. Keani Neuhs, Zach Rubin,and Kennedy McAdoo coached a small group of 3rd-6th graders on form, running drills, and the art of having fun while running competitively. Fun fact, Keani and Zach were both recipients of our 2025 TRC Scholarships! Big THANK YOU to these athletes for paying it forward and dedicating their time to our young runners. Another big THANK YOU to GH Sports for contributing the sports bottles and fun goodies to give to the kids at the conclusion of camp. This is their 3rd year donating to our youth camp and it is SO appreciated! If you haven’t been, GH Sports in SLO has a huge selection of running clothes, shoes, electrolytes, GU’s and everything to make your little runner heart happy.
This year we were able to award two more $500 scholarships to Track & Field Athletes Kate Nicholson and William Wallace. Both wrote essays in response to the prompt how Track & Field or Cross-Country impacted them through high school and how might it affect their future in athletics. Both meaningful essays are shared below for everyone to enjoy.
The Templeton 4th of July 5k is just a few short weeks away! Don’t forget to sign up! Proceeds will go back to Templeton Run Club and the Rotary Club of Templeton for local community events and scholarship programs. This timed event will run through the small town of Templeton and down the parade route on Main Street proven to be a fast 5k run or a leisurely walk. Top finisher prizes will be awarded to the overall male and female winners. Registration is $20 for adults ($30 on race day) and FREE for kids 17 years old and younger. Bring your friends, bring your friends kids, tell your neighbors, convince strangers in line at the grocery store! Sign up at https://www.templeton4thjulyparade.com/5krun
Don’t want to run? Come volunteer! We could absolutely use some help checking people in and working an aid station. Don’t want to get up that early? Come ride with us on the float! (See that, options for everyone!) We’ll be teaming up with Templeton XC again in the parade and would love more people to ride and walk with us!
Looking ahead to the fall, the Tierra Redonda Trail Run is scheduled for September 19th. Enjoy a weekend of camping, live music, trail running, and good people. I’m excited for this date change, not only because I think we’ll avoid some mud, but the evenings in September can be spectacular. The 48-hour event starts Friday, September 18th with the Last One Standing Event that morning. The 10k, 20k and 24-hour events start Saturday, September 19th. Check out All We Do is Run for more info or reach out with any questions!
The fall race schedule also includes City to the Sea 5k & Half Marathon October 18th! For those gearing up for the half-marathon, a 16-week training block starts June 28th. Which means summer training starts now! Join us for your long run Saturday mornings at 7am and follow us on Strava to keep up with weekday runs and locations!
As always, please feel free to contact me with any questions or if you just want to chat. Enjoy the essays below!
Happy Running,
Rosalie Smith
Templeton Run Club Scholarship Essay
by William Wallace
The summer before my freshman year, my older brother brought me to Cross Country conditioning. He introduced me to all of his friends, ran with me, and showed me the ropes. Walking through the halls on my first day of high school, there were upperclassmen who I already knew from practice that greeted me by name and made me feel included. As time went on, I grew closer with the amazing group of people that made up the THS Cross Country team.
Two years later, my brother and many of his friends had graduated. We had a new head coach every season, so I began to organize and host the summer conditioning practices that had started my career as a runner. As the upperclassman, one of the top runners, and practice organizer, I had taken on the very role that I had looked up to as a freshman. I did my best to welcome the underclassmen into the Cross Country family.
At the end of my junior season, I earned the title of 2024 Cross Country CIF Central Section Boys Individual Champion by outrunning McFarland’s heavily favored Diego Ochoa with my teammate Beckett Aston taking second close behind me. But two months later, my runner’s high ended abruptly with a hip injury that kept me from running for two months of track practice. Instead of giving up, I spent every practice in the weight room riding a stationary bike and doing core exercises alone. Eventually, I was able to practice with the team again. Despite a lack of ordinary training for months, I ran a 10:00.03 in the 3200 meter in our second to last meet, leaving me just shy of my sub-ten goal for the season. At CIF I paced evenly with 75 second laps until the last lap, when I kicked it into gear to finish with a 9:56.63.
But with the close of my junior season, I realized during the long months of biking in the weight room I wasn’t missing long runs, workouts, or even racing. I missed the team. I missed the family. So instead of buckling down to win another medal or break a record in my senior season, I set a goal to encourage more of the comradery and friendship that had made me feel so welcomed and loved throughout my first three years of high school.
Last summer, in addition to leading practices during our coachless offseason, I organized THS Cross Country’s first parade float at the Templeton 4th of July Parade. After seeing the football and cheer teams in the parade in years past, I wanted to do something to represent our team in a fun and memorable way. Partnering with the Templeton Run Club, we had a group of about fifteen current and past runners running laps around a float.
Just a few weeks ago, I heard about the Incoming Freshmen Information Night. I signed up for a table for Cross Country then set to work. I made flyers that included practice information, a rough schedule for the season, contact information, and a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section. I used my 3D printer to make ‘XC’ keychains for Adam and I to hand out when the freshmen answered our fun, running-related questions. When we got there, we were the only sport with student representatives. It was a great opportunity to meet the incoming class and get a glimpse into what the team will look like after I’m gone.
I learned a lot from Cross Country about how to be an athlete, such as grit, nutrition, and training, but the most important thing that I’ll take with me going into college athletics is how important it is to find and give back to a team that makes people feel like they belong. Finding a family feels better than any runner’s high and I wouldn’t know that without THS Cross Country.
Templeton Run Club Scholarship Essay
by Kate Nicholson
The bond I created with my three teammates in the 1600-meter relay last track season is something I will never be able to recreate. Our growth from our first race together to our last is unmatchable. Track has fundamentally shaped my emotional maturity, confidence, and coping with pressure. Without these tools, I would not have been able to give my all to my teammates.
The 1600-meter relay is the most mentally and physically demanding event in track and field. During practice, we are all training for our personal events, such as distance running, 800 meters, short sprints, and the hurdles for myself. Each of these different workouts let each of us contribute our own strengths for our relay team and determine which leg each of us run. For the last three years, I have been the starter for our team. Whether it is my relay team or myself, someone is depending on me not to false start and someone will be ecstatic or disappointed in my performance. To defy this immense pressure, my routine getting into the blocks has never changed, and allows me to zone in and focus on doing my job. Practicing my block start over and over until my fingers are stained red from the track and until I am comfortable with the pain, gives me confidence to push out of them fast.
The cornerstone race of our mile relay career was our 4×4 invitational at the Arcadia meet. The Arcadia track and field meet is claimed to be the largest and most competitive invitational in the country. Hundreds of schools and thousands of athletes come to Los Angeles county for the weekend meet to race with committed athletes to division one schools and the best runners all over the country. This track meet was extremely intimidating coming from a small, unknown school with a dirt track. However, this fact also meant we were underestimated and meant that we had nothing to lose but everything to prove. After a long, hot day of waiting until our turn to race, we were placed in the fastest heat of the open section, but in the slowest lane. I was the only leg that had to run the entire lap in my lane, and running in lane nine meant all the other competitors were chasing after me. Behind the blocks, my goal going into the race was to get out fast and hard, and not let anyone pass me. After the starting gun, I pushed out fast and drove hard. I kept my rhythm and adapted the catch me if you can attitude. While running, I knew that I had to get my next teammate in the best position possible, and it pushed me to not give up on the last turn. At this point I was still racing against myself, I could not see anyone in my periphery, but I could here their fast approaching footsteps. In the last hundred meters I wanted to give up, I was sweaty and sticky, my lungs were burning, my legs were heavy as lead, but I knew I couldn’t let down my teammate right in front of me and my supporters who drove all this way. I passed off the baton at the same time two other girls did, ideal to give my next teammate a good position and some push from the other girls. Each of us had a crucial part in that race. We went from being at the end of the pack to slingshotting to first place, with a personal best time of 3:56.13. All of us honored our school and earned respect from being underestimated.
In a span of a month after that race, we kept breaking our record. We took the mountain league title and beat a school three times the size of ours, with a time of 3:55.05, and continued to dominate and snagged the Central Section CIF title as well, we ran our all time best of 3:52.97. We ran our absolute hardest because we knew it would be our last together. Two of the four girls were seniors, and one of them was running on a fractured foot. We qualified for the California State meet, but ran without our strongest runner. I am so proud to be a part of such a close-knit and dominating team.
The strength I gained from running the 4×400 has taught me the tenacity to push myself to the extreme in academics. I have achieved that goal with a weighted GPA of 4.52 and all A’s. This team has also given me the desire to pursue track at the University of California, Santa Barbara and search for the love and sisterhood I built with these girls in all my future friends. Continuing track in college to be on a team is important to me to maintain the feeling of comraderie. I know that I can exceed my future expectations and goals because of this team and the memories we forged together will carry me through college.