Special to Atmore News
A little bit of rain and a lot of mud didn’t stop thousands of high school runners from competing in a series of 5K races for the Garmin RunningLane Cross Country Championship December 2.
More than 3,000 athletes gathered at John Hunt Park’s cross-country course in Huntsville.
The RunningLane Cross Country Championship, created in Huntsville in 2020, hosted at John Hunt Park offers the necessary amenities, including a championship-caliber cross-country course with various distance options.
Escambia Academy’s own freshman Danny Doerr traveled to the event to run for the first time.
Danny competed with 234 other elite runners in the red division which was the final of 10 events of the day. He placed 31st with a 19:30 and said, “Wasn’t a personal record (PR). Every time I tried to push, I felt like my shoes were being pulled off. Hopefully next year I can do better not playing two sports.”
Danny finishes his freshman Cross Country season with several top finishes. He set a PR in the AISA Junior Varsity State Championship 2 Mile Run with 10:58.10 and placed 4th in the AISA Varsity State Championship 5000 Meter run with a time of 18:53.40. He looks forward to the track season with a year under a new training plan; he is hoping to secure new PRs in the 800m, 1600m and 3200m this spring.