Despite similar team colors and mascots, Joslin Blair and Mary Fox have typically competed against each other in the past. This summer, they will finally be teammates.
If you're willing to run on less-than-regular terrain with lots of ups and downs, there seem to be a few opportunities out there for you.
Last week, I posted an article about the National High School Trail Running Championships to be held in Salida this summer.
Just this week, the USA Youth Mountain Running Team for 2017 was announced. Things can get a little confusing here. This is not Team USA in the World Mountain Running Championships. This is a bit different. But exotic travel is involved and it does involve several Colorado high schoolers.
Of the six-person coed team, five hail from Colorado. Those five are Joslin Blair (Eagle Valley), Jamison Cartwright (Erie), Mary Fox (Golden), Soleil Gaylord (Telluride), and Tyler Scholl (Middle Park).
And, these five, along with a sixth from Maryland, will be headed to Italy late in June for the World Mountain Runners Association International Mountain Running Youth Cup. You would almost need to buy an XXL t-shirt to get all that to fit in a readable font. But, they use a lot of abbreviations, so smalls turn out to be just fine.
This year's race is to be held in Gagliano del Capo, Italy, on June 25. Hopefully, the destination name means more to some of you than it does to me. I can direct you to all kinds of places in Colorado, but the map of Italy in my head is a bit sketchy.
Once again, distance turns out to be not such a defining concept for this kind of racing. Boys will be covering a course of 5.3K, while girls only get 3.85K of bang for their buck.
I'll try to keep track of results and get them posted here shortly after the event happens. For now, however, a shout out to the Colorado contingent who make up most of the team!
American Trail Running Association Press Release