More than 120 runners and almost as many spectators met at Roanoke College’s Homer C. Bast Track Tuesday for the second Star City Striders “All-Comers Track Meet.”
- Noah Harding breaks away for the win in one of the 4 Kids 100 Meter dash heats.
Runners of all ages participated together in a format stressing fun and family. Children as young as 3, and adults well into their 50s, mingled with dozens of local high school and college-aged track and cross-country runners training for their upcoming seasons.
Entry fees were nominal, and no prizes were awarded except for medals given to all children who finished their races. Kids ran a 100 meter and 400 meter sprint; teens and adults could participate at 100, 200, and 800 meter dashes as well as 3k and 5k races. The meet closed with a very competitive 4 X 400 meter relay.
The all-comers meets were the idea of Bryan Lewis, who recently graduated from Hidden Valley High School and plans to run at the University of Virginia this upcoming season. Strider members Finn Pincus and Joe LaRocco served as meet director and official starter, respectively. Pincus is head track and cross-country coach at Roanoke College, and LaRocco is a veteran official and former track coach at Cave Spring High School, where he earned six Coach of the Year awards.
- Noah Harding breaks away for the win in one of the 4 Kids 100 Meter dash heats.
Strider President Amy Rockhill termed the two all-comers meets a “pleasantly surprising success” and hopes to move forward on plans to expand the program from two to at least four summer track meets in 2010.
“You can see from the kids’ faces that they’re thrilled to be out here. It’s not about winning, it’s about having fun and doing the best you can,” Rockhill said.
