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03/02/2022 11:00 PMClara Gahm is in her first year as a member of the Guilford girls’ indoor track team, and the sophomore is loving every second of it. Clara recently enjoyed an excellent postseason that saw her claim first place in the 1,000 at a pair of championship meets.
Clara started running as a way to get out of the house and keep herself occupied when the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Now, the sport has turned into a true passion.
“In the beginning, I started to notice that the days that I went for runs I felt much better for the rest of my day. Eventually, it started to turn into a routine,” says Clara. “I would run before we got onto our Zoom calls for school. From there, I had some of my friends and family members continue to motivate me.”
Clara had a great sophomore season for the Grizzlies in the 1,000-meter run. Clara took first place in 1,000 with a time of 3:16.91 at the SCC East Sectional Championship and then won the event again by running a time of 3:11.30 in the SCC Championship. She went on to finish fifth at the Class L State Championship (3:11.74) and 16th at the State Open (3:15.99).
Clara has enjoyed her experience of competing for the track team and feels pleased with the strides she’s made in her debut campaign.
“Track is very rewarding, and it’s very easy to see the progress that I have made. Even though I have only been training for one season, I have been able to see some of my times go down as the season has gone on,” Clara says. “I also love the training aspect. Every day after school when we train, I am surrounded by other girls who are very hardworking, enthusiastic, and love what they are doing. They motivate me and push me every day.”
Clara’s proudest moment came during her first meet with the Guilford team this season. Clara hadn’t run a competitive mile time since the 7th grade, but she got through it with the support of a teammate, and has been on the fast track ever since.
“I had no idea how I was going to perform, having never really raced before. Leading up to the race, I had been training for a must faster time, but I went in with no expectations of how I was going to do,” says Clara. “Julia Antony ran alongside me and helped pace me, so I knew how fast I should go, when I should hold back, and when I should push. When I crossed the finish line and looked the final time, I surprised myself.”
Clara credits Head Coach Jim Ford for helping her build a solid framework throughout the early stages of her running career. Ford puts a strong emphasis on consistency, and Clara heeded to her coach’s advice.
“Coach Ford is very dedicated. He has driven routes ahead of time finding the best places to run, planned out all of our track workouts ahead of time, recording every split,” Clara says. “Coach Ford has really helped me see that if I continue to work hard, I can really do well in the future.”
Now that her indoor season is finished, Clara is getting ready to compete for the outdoor track team in the spring. All in all, Clara’s happy about how everything went in her first year on the track this winter.
“I thought the indoor season went really well, especially because it was my first, but my whole team did really well this year,” says Clara. “I had no idea what to expect from myself, and I really exceeded my own expectations, so I’m looking forward to the spring where I can keep improving. I am very excited to see where I can go, but also where my teammates can go.”