For many, it’s more than just running.
The SYC Running Club, started just three years ago and coming out of its infant stages, is not only about running as the name may imply. The runners and coaches develop close relationships with each other and the club is a fantastic way to provide leadership to young elementary and middle school kids.
“It’s definitely helped me with developing skills with being able to work with little kids and being able to teach them,” said freshman Vincent Szcepanik, who’s been participating since the beginning of January.
The runners range from kindergarten to eighth grade, and are divided into what is collectively known as the “little kids” group and the “older kids” group. Each group is further divided into either distance runners or sprinters, with either one or two hour practices starting at 8:00 A.M. on Sunday mornings.
“I work with the little kids most of the time so we’ll take them to do warm ups, and then we’ll normally run like, a shorter run, about a mile, and then they’ll do a cool down and we’ll play a game like sharks and minnows or something,” said freshman Leslie Lermo, who volunteers with the club as a coach for the first time this year.
While the kids may complain and whine about running, they continue to come back with smiles on their faces each practice. The games the little kids play and the lollipops they occasionally get are strong incentives to continue participating in the club, but it goes beyond that. Aside from enjoying running off excess energy, many of the runners are thrilled to have high school students as both a mentor and a friend to them.
“I really enjoy seeing the kids having fun with a sport I am so passionate about.  Very few students ever arrive at the high school level even thinking about track, as there are so many other sports vying for their attention.  This at least helps to show them that track can be a great sport to consider,” said Coach Chris Pelligrini, the man tasked with running the club along with cross-country and track for the high schoolers alone.
You would be hard pressed to find someone active in the club who didn’t enjoy themselves nearly every practice, never mind how they came to join.
“I was actually kind of dragged along to it. I keep coming back to it because my coach is also the track coach so he needs help with it, and, I don’t know, I met a lot of the kids and they’re really fun to come back to,” said Gina Chong, a senior who started coaching last year.
There have been a select few coaches who have been a part of the SYC Running Club since its founding three years ago and haven’t looked back since. It isn’t only the running that they love; it’s the relationships that they develop to go along with it.
“All these little kids are learning how to pace themselves, and they’re discovering what they like in track and field,” said Sara Waugh, a sophomore who was previously a runner and now coaches. “Now it’s cool because I get to coach and I get to actually talk to some of the eighth graders who will be freshmen next year, so I get to know my future teammates.”