Multiple Athletes from Alaska Run at AAU Junior Olympic Games for the First Time in Event History
08/02/2018
For the first time in the 52-year history of the AAU Junior Olympic Games, multiple athletes from Alaska competed in the track and field event.
For the first time in the 52-year history of the AAU Junior Olympic Games, multiple athletes from Alaska competed in the track and field event.
Traveling the nearly 3,500 miles from Anchorage, Alaska to Des Moines, Iowa, Reilly Hall (200m, 400m) and Jeremiah Wilson (100m, 200m, 400m) ran against some of the toughest competition in a place that is more than 25-degrees warmer than what they are accustomed to back home.
“It takes a lot of hard work and training because we are not used to running in certain types of heat,” said Wilson, who moved to Alaska when he was four years old. “It’s always pretty cold [in Alaska], so it’s a lot different here.”
Wilson spent time working out in saunas this season in order to get his body used to the heat and humidity of Iowa in August. He and his teammates sat through a 16-hour layover en route to Iowa for an opportunity to compete against the AAU’s toughest competitors.
“The main difference is everyone here can train year-round,” said Hall, who was born and raised in Alaska. “In Alaska, you have to be a multi-sport athlete because you can’t really run that much in the winter. We have one indoor track in all of Alaska and it’s always packed. It’s just different here.”
No matter the outcome, it has been a dream come true for Wilson and Hall to compete on a national stage.
“It’s a dream to come down here,” Hall said. “There’s a lot of good competition, so it’s just amazing to be here and run.”
continued: “It’s great exposure for us. It’s really been great.”
Visit www.aaujrogames.org for more information about the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
Traveling the nearly 3,500 miles from Anchorage, Alaska to Des Moines, Iowa, Reilly Hall (200m, 400m) and Jeremiah Wilson (100m, 200m, 400m) ran against some of the toughest competition in a place that is more than 25-degrees warmer than what they are accustomed to back home.
“It takes a lot of hard work and training because we are not used to running in certain types of heat,” said Wilson, who moved to Alaska when he was four years old. “It’s always pretty cold [in Alaska], so it’s a lot different here.”
Wilson spent time working out in saunas this season in order to get his body used to the heat and humidity of Iowa in August. He and his teammates sat through a 16-hour layover en route to Iowa for an opportunity to compete against the AAU’s toughest competitors.
“The main difference is everyone here can train year-round,” said Hall, who was born and raised in Alaska. “In Alaska, you have to be a multi-sport athlete because you can’t really run that much in the winter. We have one indoor track in all of Alaska and it’s always packed. It’s just different here.”
No matter the outcome, it has been a dream come true for Wilson and Hall to compete on a national stage.
“It’s a dream to come down here,” Hall said. “There’s a lot of good competition, so it’s just amazing to be here and run.”
continued: “It’s great exposure for us. It’s really been great.”
Visit www.aaujrogames.org for more information about the AAU Junior Olympic Games.
