Follow York senior Heather Evans as she blogs about her indoor track season. Evans is a distance runner who runs the 800-2mile. She has personal best of 5:24.62 in the mile, 2:33.47 in the 800 & 12:10.54 for 2 miles. A year ago Heather placed 7th in the mile at the Class B state meet.
Hello fellow runners and running enthusiasts! In past years I have found it enthralling to read what my competitors have to say about their races and seasons, so I am very excited to have the opportunity to share my thoughts with my competitors and friends!
I would like to start by summarizing my senior cross country season. Coming off of a slightly disappointing junior year, I had big hopes for my senior year. My main focuses were to place in the top 3 in States, to go under 20 minutes on an official 5k, and to run in New England’s. Once summer began, I started building up my mileage slowly but efficiently. When September rolled around, I felt strong, healthy, and ready to race. The season started off slowly, but I stayed focused and had faith that my training would pay off.
Winning WMC’s was surreal, and very nostalgic, since I won it as a freshmen as well. It was a great way to lead into my post-season races. Going into Regionals and States I had big expectations for myself. Going sub-20 was still my ultimate goal, but I started thinking about how cool it would be if I won States or even came 2nd or 3rd. Though, when I give myself lofty goals, I tend crack under the pressure I put on myself. After a disheartening 8th place finish at States, I felt that there was no chance I would make it to New England’s. I kicked myself the whole rest of the day for letting Twin Brook get the best of me. When I got home and went on MileSplit, I crossed my fingers and clicked on the list of qualifiers. I was thrilled to see my name next to the number 25. My coach later shared with me that I made it by .04 seconds! So the following Saturday morning I made the pleasant 40 minute drive down to Manchester, NH. This meet was amazing. The chance to run with the fastest girls in New England was like no other. The weather was perfect, the course was perfect, and my result was exactly what I wanted. I came 103rd, was the 13th girl from Maine, and I nailed down a 19:50 on a full 5k. On top of all these great results, it was an experience that I will never forget! I achieved two out of the three goals that I set for myself coming into this season, and that felt great. I have learned so much from my four years of cross country, and can’t wait to compete on the collegiate level next fall!
I am about four weeks into my training for indoor, and I feel great! I have avoided sickness, and stayed injury free thus far. I am so excited to start racing again! To get me in race mode, I ran my local Turkey Trot 5k on the 30th. It was absolutely freezing, but thankfully I love running in the cold. I was the first woman in and was 15th overall! My 10 
year old brother, Rhys, also ran and finished with a 34:38!
Earlier today, I had the amazing opportunity to run in the Mill Cities Relay as a member of the Winner’s Circle Running Club. I was on a team with Abby Jackson, Sarah Gnirk, Lauretta Bailin and York Alumni and USM graduate Molly Carl. I drove down with Molly and Briar Beede, who was helping pace Molly over her 9.5 leg. There were 5 legs of the race; 1st: 5.4, 2nd: 4.75, 3rd: 2.5, 4th: 9.5, and 5th: 4.75. I lucked out and was assigned the 2.5 mile leg. The race flew by, despite the 28 degree air, and the seemingly constant breeze coming off of the Merrimack River. I am not exactly sure how our team placed, but I will include that in my next entry if I find out! But nonetheless it was a great experience. If you ever have the opportunity, I definitely recommend joining a local running club!
I am so excited to start racing, and I hope everyone is as pumped as I am to kick off this track season! Run happy, dream big, and be relentless!
~Heather
