Massachusetts teen's hallway training leads to big sprint win
Rebecca Robinson hates the winter like any number of other top high school sprinters. For the Arlington (Mass.) High senior, winter requires indoor running, keeping her off the track and outdoor training runs, requiring extra mental fortitude and patience.
Yet Robinson still recorded the third-fastest time in the 300-meter sprint, qualifying for the national indoor championships in New York City in March, and she did it by using one rather unorthodox training method.
According to the Boston Globe, Robinson trains for her sprinting events by running down empty hallways in Arlington High every day after school lets out.
"It can be hard," Robinson told the Globe. "I run at least 15 sprints a day. If I didn't have my friends to help me and run with me, I wouldn't be able to do it. They push me."
Such are the rigors of being a standout sprinter in Massachusetts in the winter, with Robinson finding one of the most unique resolutions to weather issues en route to a career filled with success. The Arlington star -- who qualified for the 55-meter sprint finals just minutes before her 38.90 300 mark at the Bob McIntyre Elite Meet -- also won the 300-meter sprint at the 2010 version of the event, which gathers the fastest indoor athletes from around Massachusetts and pits them against each other in Boston's Reggie Lewis Athletic Center.
While Robinson has already found her fair share of solutions to unique problems, she has another interesting dilemma on the way, thanks to a difference between state and national standards. While the Arlington star won the 300 at the McIntyre Elite Meet, she'll actually have to race the 400-meter sprint at the national indoor championships, because many states do not compete in the 300.
Adding 100 meters to a sprint event may seem daunting, but for an athlete who runs in halls instead of on a track, hard is nothing new. If anything, it'll just require an extra lap around Arlington High.
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