Stories And Inspiration

Caroline Murray, right, running the fall 2012 Outer Banks, NC, GO FAR 5k

For many families, GO FAR opens up new worlds: Once-sedentary kids and parents discover that they can run, and they learn to think of themselves as athletes. Caroline Murray has a different story. Her mother, Wendy, is a runner, so Caroline grew up knowing running was a good thing. But it took GO FAR to make running “cool,” her mother says.

“Before GO FAR, she wouldn’t run across the street with me,” Wendy remembers. Then Wendy moved her family from Hilton Head, S.C., to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Eight-year-old Caroline started third grade and met Coach Sam -- GO FAR Development Director Samantha Brown.

“With Coach Sam, running became the coolest thing to do, she made it cool and fun,” Wendy says. For Caroline, there was no looking back. She ran her first 5k with the Outer Banks GO FAR program and then ran 26 more races that year, from 5ks to 8ks to an 8-mile trail run, often as the youngest runner by far. “I couldn’t stop her, she got the bug. Several times I had to defend myself and tell people I really wasn’t pushing my daughter. She kept asking me what race was next and setting goals for herself.”

Running with Caroline in races or volunteering on the sidelines, Wendy (in photo, left, with Caroline) met fellow runners in her new community and rekindled her own enthusiasm for the sport, which had taken a back seat while her kids were younger. (Caroline has a younger brother, Connor, now 5.) Running has become a three-generation family affair: Wendy’s father, who had never run, now runs 5ks with his daughter and granddaughter while his wife watches Connor (see photo, right). “It’s been great to get back out there,” she says.

As Caroline starts seventh grade at First Flight Middle School this fall, she has diversified her interests. She started playing lacrosse last year; she’s on the cheerleading team this fall. But in February, Caroline will join her mom and ten other team members in a 200-mile relay from Miami to Key West. Wendy sees a new toughness and drive in her daughter, and she hopes Caroline is learning to apply those strengths to her schoolwork and other parts of her life.

“Running has taught her how to persevere, to not be afraid of a challenge.  She fell hard during the 8-mile trail run, with blood running down her leg. She stopped at a medic station to get it checked and cleaned up, then she kept running.”