Running Through High School

Running Through High School

By Casey Accardi, Contributing Writer

Chances are if you're a resident of the Greater Boston area, your plans for April 19th are pretty clear; you'll be outside enjoying the spring weather and cheering on runners of the Boston Marathon. Last spring, Laura Potter did just that, and as she watched a fellow classmate running the race go by, Laura thought to herself, "If she can do this, so can I."

Laura's passion for running began at a very young age. "I became a runner because of my mother. She ran my very first road race with me when I was only nine years old, and I would get up at the crack of dawn (literally 5:00 a.m.) to go on runs with her before I had to go to school and she to work.It was pretty much the only time we got to spend together one-on-one, so it was a great mother-daughter experience in addition to a fun form of exercise."

Laura was open to other sports too, giving swimming and basketball a try in middle school, and playing field hockey at Winsor her freshman and sophomore years and Lacrosse her junior year. However, Laura soon found that she simply didn't have enough time to play a team sport, take on various leadership roles at school, sing in the Boston Children's Chorus, and be a Veteran Volunteer Trainer at Amigos de las Americas. "I decided to choose a form of physical exertion and activity that could have flexible hours to better fit my schedule."

That being said, training to run the Marathon has been no walk in the park for Laura. Since last June, Laura has been following a strict training schedule. "Now that we are in late winter training, the longest run I have been on is a 15-mile run, and I will be going on an 18-miler one of these coming mid-March weekends. I will do final long run the first week in April, which will be 20-22 miles.”

Although running is more of an independent sport, it can still be a considerable time commitment. For Laura, "the biggest challenge in the training has not been mustering the energy or stamina, but rather finding the time to go on these longer training runs. Even the shorter runs become difficult to schedule in among my choir, babysitting, and other extracurricular activities. However, I committed myself and knew that if I did not train properly, I would be running a much greater risk of injuring myself, so I vowed to be careful and follow the training schedule.”

While running isn't always a team sport, Laura believes that this shouldn't be a deterrent in deciding whether or not to give it a try. "Running can be a team sport if you want it to be. You can run in groups, you can do relays if you're on a track team, you can run with a cross-country team. There are lots of ways to be social and more a part of a group or a tightly knit team while you're running. Also, depending on your mood, you can choose to run alone or with a partner or a group; having all these flexible options is nice.”

In Laura's case, preparing for the Marathon has in fact been a team experience. Three of Laura's peers from the Winsor School will also be running the marathon, and together they've decided to raise money for Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)'s Pediatric Oncology program. Laura and her friends are working to raise $9000 (http://firstgiving.com/w010) for their patient partner, Sarah, a cancer patient at MGH.

Laura has proven that it isn't necessary to give up your passions in order to accommodate a busy schedule. "I'm glad that I've found a way to stay active while juggling extra-curricular activities and school work. Running is fun for me because it is a great stress reliever after a long day and I like the drained yet happy-with-endorphins feeling I get after a good run. I think that the time management skills that staying active has forced me to develop have contributed to my success not only as an athlete, but as a student as well.”

-Casey Accardi is a junior at Wellesley High School who is interested in communications, social work, and psychology. She is co-president of the Premier Choir of the Boston Children's Chorus and music director of her school's female a cappella group, Ladies First.