With the cross-country season officially ended following a season that began in May, many runners plan to take a two-week hiatus before unofficial training for track starts. But not eighth-grader Emily O and sophomore Samuel Oliver, who decided they weren’t quite ready for a break. The two have signed up to race in the Space Coast Half Marathon on Nov. 25.

“Since I had a high base mileage from cross-country, I decided to sign up for the half to see what my time would be if I raced one,” Emily said. “I run every day of the week ranging from 3 to 4 miles, and on Sundays I do a long run ranging from 8 to 10 miles. I’ve honestly never run in a half before, so I’m not really sure what to expect. My age group is from 1 to 19 so I’m going to be against people who are older and that have done this before, but I think I can get under 1 hour and 50 minutes and hopefully podium for my age group. That would be exciting.”

Oliver also will be running in his first half marathon. 

“It’s going to be interesting because it’s so different from cross-country,” he said. “It’s on the road instead of grass and it’s 13.1 miles instead of 3.1. I have run that far before on the Sunday long runs but those are more of an easy pace rather than racing, but I feel like if I pace right I should be able to do well. Of course me and Emily are going to make sure we get a good night’s sleep the night before and have a good dinner and hydrate to make sure we are the most ready we can be.” 

The race will begin at 6 a.m. in Cocoa Village.

By Jonelle Plahuta

Editor’s note: Brevard Public Schools policy prohibits the inclusion of middle-schoolers’ last names on district-sponsored websites.