Did you know that 12% of our club consists of junior members? To be precise, 105 juniors out of total 873 registered FSRC members (as of 12/29/2002). We are so very proud of our budding runners and would like to highlight two of them, Alice and William Heasman, children of our active club volunteer and fastest woman on the FSRC Racing Team and in the club overall, Claire Heasman.
Alice Heasman
(Photo credit: Claire Heasman)
Steeps junior member, Alice Heasman, is a 4th grade student at Walkersville Elementary School. Alice took part in her first fun run at age seven and has since taken part in numerous 1K, 1 mile, 5K, track and cross country races. Alice is a keen participant, especially if there is a shiny medal waiting for her at the finish line! In 2022 Alice participated in the Girls on the Run program, culminating in a Spring and Fall 5K with her mum as her buddy runner. Other achievements included representing her school in the FCPS Cross Country Meet, running a road mile PR at the Market Street Mile and taking part in five FSRC Summer Decathlon track events where she placed 9th Female Overall in the series. Anyone who attended any of those Summer Decathlon events would not have failed to notice Alice’s infectious enthusiasm, both whilst she was running and cheering on all the other runners.
“Teaching children healthy habits and allowing them to be active in whatever sport or pastime that brings them joy from a young age is so important”, says Alice’s mum, Steeps Racing Team member, Claire Heasman. “It is even more important for Alice because she was born with a rare genetic disorder called Prader Willi Syndrome (PWS)”. PWS is a very complex neurobehavioral disorder. Low muscle tone, growth hormone deficiency, motor planning issues, and hyperphagia can really make it difficult for individuals with PWS to keep active and not become obese.
Goals for 2023: Alice has just started training for her next 5K, which she will run in March down in Florida. Alice would also like to improve on her mile time and represent her school at the FCPS spring track and field meet in the Unified events.
William Heasman
(Photo credit: Claire Heasman)
William first started taking part in kids fun runs at the age of three and at seven years old he joined the Spires, running cross country in the fall and track and field in the spring and some 1K, 1 mile and 5K races, too.
William has been busy running through 2022. In the spring, he represented Spires on the track, competing in 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. William’s favorite distance to race is the 100m. At the FCPS Elementary School Track and Field Meet he placed 4th in the 5th Grade Boys 800m and was part of the Walkersville Elementary 4×400 relay, which placed 1st.
Over the summer, William also took part in four of the Summer Decathlon Series events 600m, 800m, 1 mile and 2 miles. Roll onto fall, William ran in all the Central Maryland Youth XC meets in the Boys 3K, 11-12 category. He improved his time from 15:00 in the first race to 12:43 in the final one.
William enjoys the team camaraderie at the cross country meets. Other fall accomplishments were placing 3rd in the FCPS Middle School 6th Grade Boys XC meet, 3rd in the Youth heat at the Market Street Mile, and 1st U13 in the Headless Horseman 5K in 22:45.
Goals for 2023: run indoor track for the first time, run a mile and 100m PR.