Season-ending run lifts new track program

For three years in a row, the St. Edward’s Epiphany School track team has turned the fields behind their school into a make-shift, quarter-mile track and run a full marathon to wrap up their season in a positive way. The run has raised money/items for a different cause each year. This year, the money will be used to get an adaptive track and field program off the ground.

The event began in 2008 as a fun way to end the season. For two seasons, the team collected new and gently used athletic shoes for less fortunate kids in the United States and abroad. This year marks the first time that team members have collected donations and pledges.

“It went really well,” head coach Michael Lamberson said at last Thursday’s event. “We’ve always been hesitant to ask for money because of all the other events they do at this time of year … It also gave people a chance to go to relatives, neighbors. On the pledge forms I saw a lot of people from out of state that can’t normally make it to events … sponsor their athletes.”

The athletes are charged with running 26.2 miles in just 90 minutes, so they form two teams to run 13.1 miles each – or 52.4 turns around the course. According to Lamberson, the kids pretty much organize the running part themselves.

“It’s neat because the kids will monitor it themselves to where they can split out. If they want to do a half lap each, they can [team up with a partner] and one will go to the far corner and they split a lap that way,” Lamberson said.

The relay format allows plenty of rest time between laps. This year, athletes used some of the down time to hit the discus and shot put throwing stations – a new addition to this year’s event. The team had been working all year with coaches Katherine Dec and Rick McCue on proper tossing techniques, so they added a goal of throwing a cumulative 1700 yards – one mile – which they could collect pledges for in addition to miles run.

The course started in the shade – a blessing on a humid 85-plus-degree day – and wound around the school’s playground, along the parking lot and fence-line and back into the shade.
“I think this is probably one of the hottest days we’ve done this on,” Lamberson laughed.

All 35 athletes along with alumni, siblings, parents and coaches, ran the final lap together to complete the 26.2 miles. The day ended with a pizza party provided by Automatic Leasing Company.

All proceeds from this year’s run went to Sportable, a relatively new organization based at the Sports Center of Richmond that works with athletes with physical disabilities.

Founded in 2005, Sportable has expanded its programs to include 12 different sports. New in June will be a track and field program.

“All of the money raised here is going to go right back into our track and field program,” Sportable’s Kerry Sallee said. “We’ll be buying sport-specific adaptive equipment.”

As of Thursday before the run, around $900 had been collected not including pledges per mile for running and per yard for throwing. The team was hoping to break $1,000.