They call it the running club: the St. Hedwig Running Club at St. Hedwig’s Catholic School, home of the Celtics, in Los Alamitos.
The kids practice twice a week after school, first assembling at the lunch tables for some inspirational pep talk, then a short jaunt to the athletic field for stretching exercises, pre-running drills. Then it’s off to the track where they start their running slowly, working up to whatever pace is comfortable for them.
Annie Laine is the energy behind the program, although she says that the idea for a running club at St. Hedwing had been in the air for some time. The decision to run with it, however, resulted from the impassioned endorsement of school principal Erin Rucker. An athlete who has competed in triathlons herself, Ms. Rucker often shows up at the practice to run with the kids.
Their program is non-competitive. “That’s the beauty of it,” says Laines, “There is no competition, except for each runner to do better the next time out.”
Runner and author Dr. George Sheehan wrote, “It’s very hard in the beginning to understand that the whole idea is not to beat the other runners. Eventually you learn that the competition is against the little voice inside you that wants you to quit.” As for the kids of St. Hedwig, there is always the dream that, in time, they might run with Mom or Dad, or maybe even in a marathon.
There has been a boom in children running, but for these young Celtics, it’s more than that. They enjoy the company of their schoolmates for another hour after school. And because the running club is open to all students, they are able to participate with students in other grades. Besides the obvious physical benefits of being active, the kids learn to set and achieve small goals, skills they are able to apply to many aspects of their lives.
With between 20 and 40 children at practice, parent organizer Cynthia Cunane and parent volunteers show up regularly at the training sessions. And with inspiration from club director Laine, they run with the kids at a wholehearted pace.
Laine said that she generally runs with the slowest child on the track, but even with that, she is now inspired to seriously train again for some enterprising running event. She is a bone fide marathon runner, having run her first Long Beach Marathon with her father in the early 90s. And in a marathon 20 years later, she and her daughter crossed the finish line hand in hand.
With two 5Ks under their belts, the Celtic runners took to the streets yet again Saturday, April 8 for Run Seal Beach. And they were not alone, with school principal Erin Rucker, St. Hedwig pastor, Fr. Chris Heath, and many parents running with them. The race route took the runners along the San Gabriel River, with extraordinary views of the ocean, past the marvelous homes on the ‘Gold Coast’ (that swath of beachfront homes on Ocean Avenue west of the pier), and the legendary Seal Beach Pier.
And they were cheered along the way, often from those who had shouted out their association with the school, St. Hedwig alumni and parents.
After the finish, the kids were thankful, with a student-led prayer of gratitude: “I run because I can. When I get tired, I remember those who can’t run, what they would give to have this simple gift I take for granted, and I run harder for them. I know they would do the same for me.”
