Abby Dunn Athlete Blog
Check out MaineTrackXC's spring athlete blogger Abby Dunn's blog. Dunn is the 3 time defending 1600m Class A racewalk champion who will be looking for the clean sweep this spring.
Hey Everyone! My name is Abby Dunn, and I’m a senior at Edward Little High School. I can’t believe how quickly time has passed - on Friday they put up the 30 Day Senior Count Down Calendar outside the guidance office. Between all of the Senior events and Outdoor Track, time is going to fly from now until the state meet, and graduation! With two weeks of practice under our belts, I hope that everyone is having a great start to their season!
Some of you may know me as “The Race Walker”. I was also dubbed “Hat Girl” by some kids at the state meet last year. For those of you who don’t know me, this is my fourth year with the Edward Little Girls Track Team. Race Walk is really my only solid event. I have won KVAC’s and Class A States in the Girls One Mile Race Walk for the past three consecutive years. Aside from race walk, I have run the two mile a few times. One of my goals this year is to actually take the two mile seriously, and improve a lot. Running isn’t really my forte. I did try cross country this fall for the first time, and I really enjoyed it. Running is a lot better than I used to think it was.
Most of the race walking I do is outside of high school, and on the national level. The races that I have competed in have taken me all over the country, and now around the world. Some of the ‘big’ races I have competed in include the Nike/New Balance Indoor and Outdoor Nationals, Youth Nationals, USATF Junior Nationals, The Penn Relays, The USA versus Canada Junior Race Walk Dual, and The USATF World Race Walk Cup Trials.
Some of my most notable national finishes include two championships at Indoor Nationals, two consecutive silver medal finishes at Outdoor Nationals, a gold medal finish at Youth Nationals, two second place finishes at Junior Nationals, three consecutive wins at the Penn Relays, and a first place finish at the USA versus Canada Junior Race Walk Dual.
Last weekend I flew to Eugene, Oregon to compete at the USATF World Race Walk Cup Trials. In order to make the USA Team that is going to the World Race Walk Cup in Saransk, Russia in May I had to place in the top three of the junior women’s race and walk a time of 53:00 for a 10k. My previous PR for a 10k was 55:00, so I knew it was going to take a lot, but I have been training for this race since November. The race was on a 1k loop right outside of Hayward Field. The senior Men and Women were walking a 20k and the junior Men and Women were walking a 10k. All age divisions were on the course together. Since there were only four girls in my age category, having the fast 20k competitors and the 10k guys lap me was incredibly helpful.
My goal was to go out at no slower than 5:15 per 1k. During the race, whenever someone lapped me I tried to walk with them for a little bit even though they were going much faster than me. When I got through 9k I had exactly five minutes to get 53:00. It took a lot of digging deep, but I just kept reminding myself of all the hours I had put into training for this. I ended up coming in 2nd place at 53:04. With my finish I qualified to go Russia in May with four other junior athletes and ten other senior athletes to represent the United States at the World Race Walk Cup! This will be the biggest race of my life, and I am so excited. I’m looking forward to a great outdoor track season with the Eddies, and representing our country in Russia.
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