Featured Runner - Reagan Wilmot

Thank you so much for selecting Reagan as a featured runner.  I am so proud of her that I was nearly in tears when I received your email.  When she first ran the City Fit 5k in 2011 it was only because her brother was running and I wanted to but could not run if she did not go with me.  We started out jogging and before I knew it we were half way through the race!  I told her we were about done and she wanted to keep running.  I had no idea she could go the entire distance.  She was only 5!  Once she started passing some of the people who were slowing down, I noticed that it motivated her and she would speed up.  There were also many people along the route who would see her and cheer her on.  This also made her speed up.  We were nearing the end and she past a group of three people and then she saw the finish line.  She still had more in her and sped up again!  After she crossed the finish line Dave Snow had to tell her to stop!!! She didn't know what to do.  I stopped her and bent down to tell her how proud of her I was.  And yes I did have tears in my eyes!!  She finished with a time of 33:40!!!  She walked/ran a few other WCC 5k's with her Grandmother that year.  At the Girls Inc. 2012 she started walking with her Grandmother but finished running with me.  I asked her if she wanted to run the next one and she said she would try it.  We started the next 5k and it went well when I ran with her.  We did not set out to run all of the WCC races in 2012.  It wasn't until after the fourth race that we realized that she might be able to compete in all of them.  I had an aching back so we both walked the Jubilee Days 5k. She was also terrified of the 7k, but she saw her friend Kendra Shipman there and the ran/talked the whole way and she said it didn't even seem like it was farther than a 5k.  Before we went to the Frostbite 5k I thought that she could be the youngest to complete all eight races.  I did tell her after the sixth race that if she finished all of the races I would take her to Hoppe's to pick out something.  I think that did motivate her a little!!!  She finished the Frostbite 5k in 33:45 and I thought it was her fastest time ever.  A lot of people at the finish line were cheering her on and I know that always makes her speed up!! I looked back at her other races and her fastest was in Cambridge City with a time of 33:17.  We keep all of her bibs and put race details on them then post them on a wall in our basement.  I think she also likes to see them on display.  I was really impressed and happy when I found out the WCC made a nine and under age group.  It really wasn't fair for her to be competing with twelve year old girls.  I think that by having the younger age group it will motivate them when they do receive awards and are recognized.  I hope she continues to run all of them this year.  This year she is going to run with her friend or maybe even on her own if she wants to.  Again, thank you so much for featuring her and I could go on for days telling people how proud of her I am.  I know when I was her age I could not have done what she has done.  I did not start running 5k's until I was thirty something.  It is also overwhelming how many people of all ages have came up to us and told us that they are at a race because of seeing Reagan at a previous race.  They always say "If she can do it there is no reason why I can't do it".  

Thanks Again,

Joe Wilmot