By COLIN POWELL
Sixth grader Lucas Theoharidis crossed the finish line first at the first running race held on Sedgwick Elementary School’s nature trail. “We have such a beautiful nature trail,” said principal Donald Buckingham admitting to coming up with the idea. “I wanted to come up with a way to get kids using it.”
Buckingham, who runs the trail frequently for exercise, took third in the race, which included 26 kids from throughout the school. Physical education teacher Dwayne Carter said qualification for the race was done in class, with all students running one lap around the 3/4-mile nature trail in eight minutes and 30 seconds or less making the cut. The qualifying pool included two first graders, who finished the two-lap race before a number of other students.
Eighth grader Cosmo Siebert came in second, about 30 seconds after Theoharidis, saying his plan was to just go out, run and have fun. His only regret was being unprepared and wearing Crocs the day of the race. On winning the race, Theoharidis said his original plan had been to pace Buckingham for most of the race and turn up the speed at the end. In practice, however, he found a steady, fast jog most effective.
Gracious in defeat, Buckingham said the bottom line for him was getting the kids out and showing them that being active can be fun. The Sedgwick Elementary School nature trail is open to the public, though the school asks that visitors check in at the front office before using it.
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