Most people know Churchill Downs as the location of the renowned Kentucky Derby, but senior Guy Lockwood sees the track as a place where he ran a race a few years ago.
“One [race] that I thought was really fun, and I’ve done it twice, is this race that is on the [Churchill Downs] track,” Guy said. “It’s a half-marathon, and part of the track is on the horse track that hosts the Kentucky Derby.”
Guy has found comfort in running as a pastime and a way to keep himself in shape. He has run for a while, even trying cross country in middle school, but found that it wasn’t a great fit. He enjoyed running then, but ran for distance over speed, which was a trivial part of the team. He found himself falling behind, and ultimately decided that he would keep the sport a hobby.
“[I decided to run] on my own time,” Guy said. “I did cross country one year, but I was the slowest on the team, because it turns out we were still doing distances that were shorter than I thought, because it’s hard to schedule a two-hour run.”
Although he may not have stuck with cross country as a school activity, Guy is still able to value the time that he was on the team.
“I enjoyed [cross country], but it was just a lot more speed over distance-focused,” Guy said. “At the one event that I went to, I came in second-to-last, and that is because the kid who came in last stopped a lap early because he thought he was done.”
Running has become a release for many different aspects of Guy’s life, even if he’s not doing it as a sport in school. He runs throughout the year, usually outside, but when the weather doesn’t cooperate, he runs inside at the YMCA (Y) gym. He likes to make time to run in his schedule, no matter the circumstances.
“During the winter or the middle of summer, when it’s way too hot, usually I run at the Y,” Guy said. “Otherwise, I just run around town, anywhere I can find paths in the area.”
Guy has a lot of different ways to run. There are many different trails that he likes to run on, and he tends to find new places as well. Sometimes he runs with other people, such as friends or family, but he also runs in solitude. He will also listen to music as he runs; usually any song that is composed with a basic one-two beat. His music ranges from classical to sea shanties.
“[The music I listen to is] mostly just anything with a good one-two beat,” Guy said. “My running playlist is a complete hodgepodge of classical music, show tunes, sea shanties, literally anything with a good metronome.”
Luckily for him, running headphones are not sound-canceling for safety reasons, so he can listen to his music even when there are people running with him.
Even though Guy enjoys running, there is much more to it for him than simple enjoyment. Guy has diabetes, so he is constantly checking his blood sugar and is on alert for potential issues. Luckily, this doesn’t stop Guy from everyday life, or running. As a matter of fact, running helps him with diabetes. Because he has to eat sugary food, running helps keep him in shape, and he is able to still run as long as he takes breaks if he needs to fix his blood sugar.
“I do a little bit of insecurity about weight gain because I’m a diabetic, so I have to eat a bunch of sugary stuff, and it’s hard to stick to a diet,” Guy said. “So running is just something I can do to help alleviate needing to eat a bunch of fruit snacks every day. It helps me stay at least a little bit in shape.”
Overall, Guy has gained so many opportunities through running. He runs, and has run, in a variety of different races of different lengths and in different locations across the country. Even if it isn’t technically his “sport,” he is able to use running as a chance to help many different aspects of his life, and he can genuinely enjoy it.
“It’s great to just have a scheduled period of time where I’m just going to turn off my brain and do something simple,” Guy said. “It’s great for my blood sugar. It’s great for my mental health. It’s just good to have a ‘I’m going to do nothing with my thoughts.'”
