Finding Her Form

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Katie Kelley training in the upper meadow of Miller School’s XC course.

It is a stampede. The first minute of the VISAA Cross-Country State Championships is chaos. Two hundred runners in peak physical condition storm down a five-hundred-meter grass field, each fighting for position before the course narrows into a tight double-track trail. Spectators feel the ground rumble in those opening moments. For runners, it is like running with the bulls in Spain, except instead of bulls, it is hundreds of fellow runners all dreaming of finishing in the top twenty and earning All-State honors.

Katie Kelley started the 2023 state championship race mid-pack. On a cool November afternoon, she ran with no expectations other than to run her own race and stay within her limits. She would soon discover her limits were greater than she knew.

Katie’s path to the state championship started during the pandemic when she was a freshman in high school. Every morning, just as the sun crept into her window, Katie heard her mom lacing up her running shoes and heading out for early-morning miles. After a while, Katie decided to join her and began jogging. At first, it was just to get some exercise and be outdoors. Then, her mind and body became accustomed to the endorphins of regular exercise, and she pushed herself a little harder every day. Running became a routine, and routine turned out to be just what Katie needed.

Fast forward two years, and Katie is running every day—now training. Her workouts are carefully planned by head cross-country coach Becca LaVoie. Each week, Katie notices time melting off her mile splits, and the long runs on Dick Woods road feel effortless. On hot days, she wakes up before sunrise, runs to the school farm, and takes a dip in the lake afterward to cool off. Katie has become a runner—and it feels good.

While she continued to drop time in meets and track workouts, Katie entered the VISAA State Championships with no expectations. However, halfway through the race, Katie noticed there were more girls behind her than in front. In fact, she could see everyone in front of her, and they were all close and not running any faster than she was. Then, her coach and parents started screaming from the side of the course that she was just out of the top ten. The top ten!

The human brain functions differently when the body is pushed to its limit in an endurance event. Some argue it thinks more clearly, filtering out unnecessary thoughts. Others say it is reduced to the thought processes of a small child, processing only a few things at once. For Katie, her mind drifted back to training runs in Miller School’s meadows overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. She remembered the burning in her lungs and legs as she pushed herself up the long climbs on campus. The rolling hills of the state championship course felt flat compared to her training ground. Katie narrowed her focus, dug deep on each climb, and did her best to recover on the downhills. The five kilometers of the race track became a blur, and before she knew it, Katie was being channeled into the finisher's chute with the lead pack of racers. She had just made Miller School history. Katie Kelley was All-State—the first female cross-country runner to earn this distinction.

Katie Kelley found her form during her senior year, both as a runner and as a student. She realized that her limits are far greater than she or others had ever thought.