Are you faster than a 5th grader?

Just when I was feeling good about my recent race performances and bragging about my 9-year-old running a whole mile, along comes this story from Outside magazine highlighting the achievements of Texas-native sister running phenoms Katylynn Welsch, 12, and, Heather, 10. Katlylynn recently won the women’s field in the XTERRA 21K Trail Run in Waco, Texas, to become the youngest ever champion of an XTERRA trail half-marathon, placing 11th overall with a time of 1:39:31.

That’s right, these prepubescent sisters — in 7th and 5th grade — could give 90% of the athletes in our area a run for their money.

Perhaps there is hope for an American medal in the Olympic marathon, after all, eh?

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Foot Types Decoded (for Beginners)

Still trying to make sense of the shoe guides in the back of Runner’s World magazine?

The Arty Runner Chic recently had a helpful post: Your Runner Foot Type and the Quest for the Perfect Running Shoe

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Credit

Pain in the knee? Look behind you, ladies

Baby, get some back to prevent knee pain. Recent research suggests that knee pain in women runners may be attributed, at least partially, to weak glutes. If you’ve got a “flat butt,” you’ve likely got weak glutes. Combine that with a woman’s natural tendency to have hip issues and you’ve got the recipe for patellofemoral pain, aka Runner’s Knee.

See some glute-strengthening exercises here.

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The Rise of the Zombie Run

Fun article here in Outside magazine on the rising popularity of running with the undead and what it says about our society.

“There’s something about an extreme distraction,” Smith said. “For whatever reason, we’re in a time right now where it’s ‘take me to a totally different place.’ You can relate that back to the adventure race since not everybody has a cargo net in their backyard, and it seems to work well together.”

Don’t forget, you’ll have your chance to run from the Zombies right here in Erie on Oct. 13. Details are still being worked out, but you can find basic info. here.

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T-shirt of the Week

Get going, cupcake! Available here in various styles for $24 and up.