I don’t even know where to begin. Footlocker was an incredible experience that I will never forget. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to participate in the 2013 Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, not only because it was like a vacation for a weekend in CALIFORNIA, but because I had the privilege to race the best high school runners in the country and make friendships that will last forever. 
I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the people who put so much work into making this an unforgettable experience for all of us!
The trip started when I woke up at 5 a.m. to fly out of Jacksonville to Atlanta! There, I almost missed my flight. I thought I had enough time to run to one of the convenience stores for a snack, but who knew they boarded planes that fast? Usually I have to wait awhile before getting on the plane because the lines are ridiculously long, so I figured I could just be at the end of the boarding line. Luckily I still got on the plane (and hey, I wasn’t the last one to board) --and then we were off to San Diego!
When I got off the plane, I had no trouble finding the Foot Locker representatives who were suppose to guide us to the bus. On the bus, I met Lauren Brasure who committed to UF. I was excited to give her tips on the Florida life. The bus took us to the Hotel Del Coronado, which looked absolutely amazing just from the outside. Then, we signed in and got all our awesome gear. My roommate was Tessa Barrett from Pennsylvania. She was so nice and fun to talk to--and an extremely talented runner (a.k.a footlocker champion)!
After we got all our stuff settled into our hotel rooms, we headed out for a group run. Afterwards, we had a delicious dinner and then made team shirts! The shirts were a lot of fun to make and I’ll definitely be keeping mine for memories :)
I woke up bright and early Friday morning (thank you time zone change) and thankfully the other South girls were ready to take get on that buffet breakfast! There was so much yummy food: waffles, granola, yogurt, bacon, steak, eggs, cereal, fruit, bagels, and it goes on... After breakfast, we took the bus to the course. I had heard about the hill, but it didn’t seem that bad (I will regret thinking that later...) After running/walking/hanging around the course, we headed back to the hotel for lunch. More great food (every type of sandwich making possibility and dessert!!!) Most of the South girls were really anxious to get to the beach, so we decided to go right after lunch. I was excited too, but being from Florida and living a few minutes away from the beach, I wasn’t expecting anything extraordinarily different. The beach was gorgeous and I’m glad I went!
From 2-4 pm, we were suppose to meet in the lounge room for some activities with the rest of the Foot Locker qualifiers so we headed back to the hotel. They divided us into groups, each with an Asics elite athlete as the leader.There were four different activity zones with games like ping pong, shooting a basketball into a hoop held by your teammate, and two other games I don’t know the names of. It was so much fun to get to know everybody from the different regions! Afterwards, my teammate Molly Breidenbaugh from Virginia, went back to the beach for an ice bath. It was SO cold at first, but it felt really nice when we got out! We finally went to dinner where we got to listen to the elite athletes, ask them questions, and get pictures and autographs. It was really cool to hear how they were just like us once and how far they’ve come!
Saturday morning: Race day! Up until I got up to the line for the race, everything felt distant. When we finally had to line up, reality hit me and I thought, “OMG. I have to race some of the fastest people in the nation. What am I doing here? AHHHHH...” *nervous breakdown moment* Thankfully, I shook those thoughts out and the gun went off. I have to say that course is probably the hardest course I have ever run. So many times during the race I was tempted to stop, but thankfully I didn’t! I felt like I was going to die running up that hill twice. I wasn’t very pleased with my run, but just being able to compete against such talented runners was a rewarding experience.
When we arrived back at the hotel, we got bagged lunches and then the South girls headed to the beach for a picnic! The rest of the afternoon was well spent--relaxing on the beach, making sundaes, checking out the candy store, and eating lots and lots of chocolate. Before dinner, some of the girls wanted to shop around. We saw some of the South guys and joined with them. Then we discovered another candy store and had some more chocolate! That night, we attended the awards banquet where we were served more delicious food. Everyone got a wooden plaque and the All-Americans got to stand on the podium and receive medals. The dance was after the banquet, but most of us stayed for a little bit, laughing and acting crazy, and then dispersed...running around on the beach, chilling on the roof, and then listening to one of the guys sing (he was so good). Afterwards, we were really tired so we crashed in Hannah Christen and Katy Kunc’s room to watch a movie but just ending up falling asleep at around 2 a.m.
I didn’t want to wake up after three hours of sleep and leave all my new friends and San Diego. Everyone was so nice and it was so sad to have to say bye so soon. We were all treated extremely well and I am so thankful for everything Foot Locker and Asics did to make sure we had an incredible experience. I know that I will always keep in contact with the new friends that I made and hopefully reunite later!
I hope everyone has a great winter break and see you on the track in the spring!
Karen Post-Race Interview:
More Coverage
- Karen's Athlete Profile
- 2013 Foot Locker Nationals Meet Page (Complete Results & Coverage)
