Annie Wright junior Anna Haddad, Inkwell’s November Athlete of the month, is a long-distance runner in track and field and cross-country.

Starting out playing soccer and having a strong dislike for long-distance running in middle and lower school, Haddad says that she is proud she has come a long way in terms of improvement, growth, and maturity.

Her greatest accomplishment was placing 5th at last year’s state track and field meet in the 800-meter race. In the 2017 1A State Cross Country meet, she hoped to place in the top 16 runners and to break 19 minutes. She hopes to get a PR in the 800-meter and 1600-meter at next year’s state track meet. She also wants to keep running a part of her life for as long as she can.

The state cross country meet took place last Saturday in Pasco, Washington. The race is 3.1 miles, and Haddad placed 16th out of 152 total runners with a time of 19:29 minutes. She ran a season best time of 19:00.4.

Inkwell spoke with Haddad regarding her running experiences.

Inkwell: What age did you start running competitively?
Haddad: I started running cross-country in seventh grade.

Inkwell: What do you enjoy most about running?
Haddad: The thing I like most about running, in general, is just taking the time to go out and breathe fresh air and have the time to reflect, think on things, or just escape from things I don’t want to think about. Competitive-wise, I mean I’m a competitive person, and I really like pushing myself to see how far I go.

Inkwell: What is training like?
Haddad: Training is a year-round thing. During the season, there’s a mix between hard workouts at Wright Park, hill repeats, intervals, and also lifting, doing abs and stability. And also mixing in long runs, easy days. Winter training is more intense because you don’t have to race. Just consistency, that’s the main key.

Inkwell: Who is your favorite runner?
Haddad: Mo Farah, Allyson Felix, and Galen Rupp.