Wildcat of the Week: Annie Schmucker
Many students at De Soto High School have talents or abilities that they take outside the walls of DHS, and senior Annie Schmucker is no exception. Schmucker ran in the Pilgrim Pacer Half Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 15. Schmucker ran with fellow cross country athlete and friend, senior Jaycie Thaemert.
The race took place at Shawnee Mission Park and the whole event was composed of a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon race.
“Jaycie asked me if I wanted to do it, and I was like ‘Ok, I’ll do it’ because it sounded fun,” Schmucker said. “It just sounded so cool and I was like ‘Hey I’ve never done that before, so I’ll do that.’”
Even with the race being just for fun, Schmucker still had to prepare.
“I had to increase my miles a little bit,” Schmucker said. “I would do a long day of about 10 or 11 miles and the next day I would do a shorter day which was about four or five miles.”
The preparation certainly helped, but even with it, Schmucker was still nervous.
“I felt nervous, but it was just for fun,” said Schmucker. “It was pretty cold that morning, so we were all ready to get started. I was nervous, but I was also ready to go and warm up.”
Despite any pre-race nerves, Schmucker was pleased with her performance in the race.
“The last few miles were hard. My legs were just worn out,” Schmucker said. “We really did do it for fun, so we weren’t really worried about the time.”
After the race, Schmucker was delighted about their accomplishment.
“It felt really good after. I was like ‘Wow, we just ran a half marathon,’” Schmucker said. “Then I had a soccer game, so that was fun.”
With such a great first experience behind her, Schmucker plans on eventually running another half marathon.
“I definitely think I would [run another half marathon],” Schmucker said. “At some point, I want to do the whole thing and run a whole marathon.”