Firebird Mile Tests the Young and Young At Heart

Runners at the ninth-annual Firebirds Mile came out to Watkins Mill High School Thursday night hoping to achieve an assortment of goals during their time on the track. 

Mark Unger, a 10-year-old runner from Rockville, wanted to get as close to breaking six minutes as possible.  Sheri Martin planned to “finish and not die in the process.”  John Spannuth, who usually runs 50-mile ultra-marathons, was interested in how he would do at a much shorter distance. 

No matter what the specific goal of the runner was though, the Firebirds Mile, created in a partnership between the Montgomery County Road Runners Club and the Firebirds Youth Track Club, simply promotes any sort of growth in a runner’s skill while providing a family-friendly environment.    

“What’s unique about [the Firebirds Mile] is that kids and adults are running together,” race director Marty Horan said.  “Kids can do this with their parents.”

Few athletic events allow for such competition between adults and children, but the Mile is one place where observers could watch kids like Mark run with, and beat, their older counterparts.

“Many of the kids are extremely competitive,” Horan said.  “But it’s nice they’re not sitting in front of the TV or the computer screen.”   

Multiple youth track clubs were represented in the run, including the Firebirds and St. John’s Episcopal School in Olney.

After being delayed by a rescheduled lacrosse game, the night began with a non-competitive, quarter-mile fun run for children not quite ready to make the full mile. 

Participant of all sizes then took to the track in six different heats.  Runners were grouped by the time they expected to finish, with people expecting to run the mile in more than ten minutes running first and the highly-skilled contestants expecting to run in fewer than five minutes going last.

Whatever expectations were though, runners were consistently surprising themselves throughout the night, as many people ran the mile well under their anticipated times.

Ayan Bagchi, a runner in the fifth heat, said running with so many people challenges each participant to do better.

“Competing with others makes you bring out something in yourself,” Bagchi said.

In the end, Michael Wagner, a runner coming all the way from Howard County to compete, finished with the best time on the night, completing his mile in four minutes and 33 seconds.  It was Wagner’s first time running the Firebirds Mile.

Off the track and in the stands, event organizers treated runners and supporters to healthy snacks.  People could also buy homemade ice cream and a spaghetti dinner.

Horan, who has planned the Mile since it began, considered the night a success, as no one was injured and more Firebirds participated in the event than ever before.