I will be the first to admit that I take my running for granted. I had been injured for the better part of a year, but slowly I have started to get back into shape. I live for my running. It’s my way to get out into the nature that I love so much. It is also a way for me to relieve the tension and stress that might have built up during the work day.
But sometimes, something happens that makes you realize that you shouldn’t take anything in life for granted. By the time you read this, it will have been six weeks since the school shooting at Platte Canyon High School. In that time, I know that the students, parents, and community surrounding the small school just west of Bailey will still be grieving from what occurred there.
I find it difficult to understand how such a tragic thing can happen. On my run today, I wondered if the members of the Platte Canyon High School Cross Country Team are using running to help heal. Just two days after the incident happened, I watched the team compete at the Dave Sanders Invitational at Clement Park in Littleton. Maybe it was just a coincidence that this meet is run in honor of the teacher who was killed in the Columbine High School shooting five years ago.
For more than two weeks, this meet had been hyped for the fact that two of the nation’s best runners were going to race against each other for the first time. Katie Vanatta, the defending class 4A champion from Ralston Valley High School, and Kristen McGlynn, the defending class 3A state champion of the aforementioned Platte Canyon Huskies, are both ranked among the nation’s top 20 female high school runners.
Just two days before the race, Platte Canyon High School administrators canceled all of their sporting events for the week. No one knew if the much anticipated showdown between the two high school stars would even take place. But the Platte Canyon boys and girls teams chose to run as a way to honor their fallen classmate Emily Keyes. The twin brother of Emily Keyes, Casey, is a member of the cross country team, and ran in the junior varsity race.
Running with the words “4U Emily and Casey” written on the back of their legs, the Platte Canyon Boys and Girls cross country teams ran well, as expected, even with heavy hearts. The boys finished 12th and the girls finished tenth against much larger schools. I like to think that during the 15 to 25 minutes that they were racing, they were able to forget about the horror they witnessed only a few days before.
As for the Vanatta/McGlynn showdown, the Platte Canyon girl’s team was lined up at the far left of the field. The Ralston Valley runners were placed at the far right. When the race began, both Vanatta and McGlynn shot to the front. Typically, runners conserve energy by gradually aiming for the first turn. But on this day, Ralston Valley’s Vanatta immediately crossed the field to run next to McGlynn as a sign of sportsmanship. The two ran together for 30 seconds before Vanatta pulled away. She claimed victory in one of the fastest times ever run in Colorado by a high schooler – 16:59.1. McGlynn finished second in 18:09.
Happy Trails!
Derek