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Been There, Run That

Chandler Preparatory Academy January 27, 2023 -

Track students running in a raceJD Oullette, a senior at Chandler Preparatory Academy, recently ran a half marathon and placed 1st in his division (male, age 15-17) at the Rock ‘n’ Roll Running Series with a finish time of 1:14:24.  Overall, JD placed 20th out of 5,693 runners. An amazing accomplishment for this 17-year-old.

“I feel like I did good. I felt good and I’m happy with the results,” said Oullette. Always knowing there is room for improvement, JD said, “I think I could have done better on my time, because I felt like I still had a lot left in me after it was over, but I feel good about it.”  JD is on The Chandler Prep Boys Cross Country team, who had a stellar 2022 season, finishing second at the Arizona State Meet. JD made first team all-state. Read more about it at https://www.greatheartsamerica.org/running-after-dreams/.

Great Hearts faculty members, James Karlin, a teacher at Glendale Prep, participated in the half marathon and Jon Rickey, Great Hearts Arizona Network Director of Athletics ran the 10K.

Mr. Karlin ran the half marathon with an impressive finish time of 1:29:13 and finished 16th in his division (male, 25-29) with an overall placement of 116th out of 5,593 runners. “This was my first half marathon, but I have a bit of marathoning experience. I’ve run three marathons before, and I’ve qualified for Boston. This training cycle wasn’t great for me. Because of my commute, I have to wake up around 4:15 in the morning to get the weekly mileage I want, but things weren’t really coming together in workouts this time around,” said Karlin. “So, I went into the race with the plan of taking it relatively easy and aiming to get the distance under my belt with a good attitude, staying grateful for the fact I can do this at all. I averaged around 6:44 per mile and felt comfortable finishing. It’s not close to what I’ve done in the past (with a marathon at 6:35 average pace), but I’m happy that I was able to accept that result as reasonable in light of my training, keeping a good attitude throughout a race that was pretty cold and wet!”

“I am not a runner. I don’t pretend to be a runner. I am never mistaken of being a runner,” said Rickey. “I am a jogger, not necessarily because I like to, but because I know it is good for me. In all of the sports and all of the teams I played on, running was punishment and I really believed that to be true.”

Rickey said he ran his first Rock N Roll half marathon back in 2005. “My goal was not to walk and not to die, and on that day in 2005 I accomplished my goal. Going to this year, I did the 10K with no issues and the distance didn’t seem too bad. I think with running, whenever you tell someone how far you ran, no matter the distance, someone is always either thinking, ‘Wow that is far,’ or ‘Eh, I could do that.’  That’s what makes it so interesting. 6.4 miles (a 10K) seems insurmountable for some, and yet a warmup for others… People like JD and Mr. Karlin, to run that distance, that fast, is unbelievable to me. They are world-class!”

Congratulations to all 3 runners for the accomplishments they made during this run and their continued dedication to their personal growth as athletes and incredible humans.

Do you have a story or know of a story that you would like to see featured at Great Hearts?  Please contact jmoore@greatheartsamerica.org.