Last Saturday marked the inaugural Youth Trailblazers Race. May 31st Gifft Hill School hosted a 2 mile race in the National Park on the Lind Point Trail for any student in Eighth grade or younger. Despite ongoing rain showers occurring throughout the race, all 17 runners finished in an exemplary fashion. Exuding resilience and an undeniable determination they overcame the obstacles of Mother Nature to properly mark the beginning of what will be a wonderful annual tradition for the youth of St. John.
At the head of the pack, Tobias Sosa: a first grader, finished in 1st place. At a time of 19 minutes and 42 seconds, this seven year old squeezed ahead of his older brother Eli by just four seconds. Coming in third place was Rollie Simmons with a time of 23 minutes 8 seconds.
Although the race was open to all students in 8th grade or younger, the ages of all of the participants did not exceed 10 years old. The group performed well beyond the expectations of Gifft Hill School PE teacher and running coach, Emma Johnson. Emma created this competition in hopes it would be a catalyst for more kids to start running, certain of the positive impact running can have. Elaborating on this notion she added, “Running is a great teacher in life. It teaches kids resilience, adversity, how to do hard things and really gives kids a sense of pride and accomplishment in themselves.” The event certainly was a success and she has every intention for it to continue annually.
In the years to come, the race will be held every May and take place at the same location. Emma’s hope is that the number of participants will grow, incorporating a wider age group as well as other schools. In her words, “The more the merrier!”
Emma was inspired to start this friendly competition of athleticism after running the 8Tuff Miles with two young students of hers. When asked about the inspiration her response was candid, “…it was a blast! I was so impressed with the two girls I ran with and how hard they worked. This race was a great opportunity to get more kids running, and to run a distance that was super approachable.”
In addition to the Youth Trailblazers Race, Emma hopes to add many more events throughout the year for students to take part in. She wants to have regular activities for all of the St. John youth, providing a range of athletic competitions and events for all ages.
If you have any questions or are looking for more information, please contact Emma Johnson.
340-776-1730
This is awesome! Kudos to all the kids that joined in!
What a great, activity-event for your youth I would like to share and tell these precious ones,”you do not know how lucky you are to live in such a wonderful Paradise’!
My husband and l, have travelled to St John many, many times. Our go-to vacation spot. We’ve travelled other destinations but we always want to go back St. John.