A Breath of Fresh Air

Preparing for Bale n’ Trail this past week has been crazy intense. Throughout the week I had been doing multiple workouts that have been some of the hardest I have ever done before, along with hitting times in the workouts that made it seem unbearable. However, I survived, and knowing that my team did well at the FSU Invite the week before I felt as if I had owed something to my team to give my all at practice.

The day of Bale n’ Trail was awesome. I spent the day before with some friends that I have not seen in a while, and since it was not a morning race I got to sleep in a little too! Prior to running the race I had a sense of ease knowing that it was my last race at Bartram and since it was in my home territory, I had to win it. Our whole team was so jacked because of how well the JV girls preformed so we knew we had a job to do.

When the gun went off it was a pretty quick start, there was about five girls who took it out pretty fast and then settled through the pace after about 300m. Once we got around the baseball field I started to surge and got into first place. When arriving at the mile mark I saw that my time was 5:45 so I was happy to know I was going out at the pace I planned. Throughout the rest of the race I lead and following closely was Hannah Loder, of Matanzas. I would surge in random places to create a bigger and bigger gap, while trying to push off of the hay bales. Once it got to the last lap I decided that this was my last chance to win at Bale n’ Trail. I started to pick up my knees and pump my arms forward and did not look back. Before I knew it I was on top of the miniature hill, and smiling as I finished first running an 18:40. Knowing the time could have easily been better I decided I was still happy I won and that I have plenty of races to come that I can have my breakout race. I hope all of your seasons are going well and happy running!

ABOUT Mary Kate Ponder:

I have been running for four years and love it more than anything. I never thought I would end up loving running as much as I do, but I have been so lucky to have had so many people in my life that have encouraged me to use my gifts to their fullest potential.

I started running the summer before my freshman year in high school after being asked by some high school runners to join the team. They had come to my middle school looking for anyone who had an interest in running. My parents had always encouraged me to have an extracurricular activity and since I wasn’t doing anything at the time I chose to try out for cross country.

 I was born just outside of Nashville,Tennessee and moved to Jacksonville when I was in 3^rd grade. I played soccer and was on a swim team in elementary and middle school. I was pretty decent at both but never really loved either one. My sister was on the swim team in high school, and my dad played soccer in college, so our family has always been very competitive.

I plan to continue running in college and beyond, and I am looking forward to compete at a higher level with brand new goals to try and achieve.

Editor's Note- Mary Kate will be keeping a blog for us this year as she sets her sight on some pretty high goals. Last year Ponder went 4:59 in the 1600m and is coming off of a monster summer. Click here to follow all of her blog posts.

More Mary Kate Ponder:

Hagerty Invitational 2010 Post-Race Interview