The Jamaican that shocked Harrisburg!

                      Look out, here comes the Flash!                                                                                       

On Oct. 13, 2012, the “Jamaican” ran in the 8th Annual Shelter Shuffle 5K Run on the                                

grounds of the former Pennsylvania State Hospital in the City of Harrisburg, Pa.               

Seven year old, Daniel finished in first place in the "19 and Under" category in the 5K race today. He ran with a time of 24 minutes, 5 seconds. With about 200 people signed up for this race, not too many people finished ahead of him. 

I was concerned that he would not do well, maybe not finish the race because of two factors. At start time, it was only about 35 degrees. Second, the State Hospital Grounds is on a mountain. To run this race, you must run down to the bottom of the mountain. Then you must run half way up the mountain before running down again. For the last mile, you must run up the mountain to its crest. As a matter of fact, the building at the top of the mountain is called, Hill Crest. Then you still have to run down that hill, through a large parking lot and back to the street where you finish the race. As one official told me, this course is not easy for anyone.

   This was the course that Daniel ran, up and down the mountain.

As I stood on the crest of the mountain, Daniel blew by me as he finished his last hill on the Mountain. Everyone after him looked like running death. I thought many of them were going to pass out.    

 

I did not have time to take a picture. By the time I got my Cell phone ready, he already ran up over the hill, by me, and started down the other side when the picture took. 

He beat the CD East High School Girls Cross Country Team with a time one minute faster than the fastest girl on the team. Overall the fastest person finishing this race, finished with a time of 17 Minutes and change. The overall winner finished less than 7 minutes faster than Daniel, the one they call the "Jamaican Flash.” As they called Daniel’s name to receive his prize, you can hear the crowd “gasp” with surprise when he walked up to claim it.

Daniel is only in Second Grade at Paxtang Elementary School in the Central Dauphin School District. In 7 years, he will be eligible to run on the CD East Boys Cross Country Team. One of the girls at CD East said that they can use him now.

 

Daniel’s next 5k race will be at the Gravel Hill United Methodist Church in Palmyra, Pa. This will be his last 5k race of the year. On November 3, 2012, he starts the USATF Cross Country races, starting with the preliminary race in Philadelphia. If he comes in the first 25 in this meet, he will go on to the Region 2 Championships. If he finishes in the top 20 in Region 2, he goes on to Balloon Fiesta Park, Albuquerque, New Mexico for a shot to become a USATF Champion and to receive a National Ranking.