Keller Girls Appreciate The Texas Distance Festival

Keller runners compete during the 2017 cross country season that eventually led to NXN.

The Texas Distance Festival brings in the top distance talent around. That includes girls from one of the faster distance teams in the nation -- Keller.

They own the cross country courses, but how do they feel about the track?

Junior, Isabel Van Camp said, "It's really nice to have a meet specifically for distance events because it's a great combination of some of the best parts of track and cross country and  It's definitely a plus to be able to run in front of a crowd that really enjoys watching your events.  

Keller teammate Julia Black weight in saying, "It's really nice to have a meet specifically for distance events because it's a great combination of some of the best parts of track and cross country, It's definitely a plus to be able to run in front of a crowd that really enjoys watching your events."

The Southlake Running Co. created the meet back in 2013, since then thousands of distance athletes have converged onto the Carroll campus for the chance to get quality races in and opportunities that are facilitated for running personal bests.

Perhaps, it's the atmosphere that the distance runners enjoy just as much as anything. Black said, "The support we get for this meet is amazing! Usually, at track meets no one besides our parents really cares about the distance events, but this meet is awesome because it is just distance."

There are so many volunteers and fans adding a helping hand from the registration, to directing, to cheering. Fans are known to line up all around the track to cheer athletes every step of the way to even running from side to side to cheer on every runner. 

Keller junior, Maddie Hebert said, "It feels extremely special and warming. The track vibe and cross country vibe are very diverse, so TDF makes me feel at home again with all the distance runners. I feel more at home knowing that the people there support long distance. At track meets, I feel that the majority of people want the 3200 or 1600 to end asap so that they can watch the faster, shorter events."

Not to get lost in the sauce is the point of the meet. Yes, the family atmosphere and commonality of everyone celebrating distance running and the social aspect, but there is still the intent and business part of the meet.

That business is to run fast. 

Turning out as many PRs as possible and personal accomplishments is the purpose and the races get intense and very competitive.

The Keller girls are usually one of the most prepared groups and this meet will not be the one they aren't prepared for. "We've really just been focusing on transferring the focus, hard work, and success we saw in cross country over to track," Van Camp said.

Keller has had  a lot of success over the last three to four years including earning national prominence the last two years. That success and experience could play in their favor at a meet like this. Van Camp added, "Running at national level meets definitely helps with big meets like this weekend, because we have been exposed to the high stress and distractions.  This has allowed us to learn how to put those aside and focus on the race at hand.  That is a notion that Black and Hebert agree with, "I think the national meets prepare us for this because we have been pushed to such a high level," Black said.  Hebert adds, "The successful xc season definitely boosted our confidence, but also has helped provide an urge to want to improve even more because we are looked upon by many other schools. It definitely helps me stay calm mentally. I know that I have competed at big stages, so surely I can continue to compete at anything handed to me."