A text message was received one late night in July with four simple words: “Can I call you?” The receiver was Sarah Hamon, 19, a junior at UNCW and member of the Track and field and cross-country team. The messenger was a running manager with the World Mountain Running Championship, Hamon had been chosen to compete in Bulgaria.
“I’ve never raced up a mountain, the odds of me making were so low, but I figured I would just put in an application anyway because, why not?” Hamon said.
Hamon had heard about the World Mountain Running Championship from her teammate Alex Boseman, who was interested in the competition but too old to compete. To be on the junior team for the World Mountain Running Championship, the athlete must be between 16-19 years old and cannot turn 20 in the calendar year. Making the cut with exactly seven days to spare, Hamon applied this past May for the September race in Sapareva Banya, Bulgaria.
“[Hamon] asked me what I thought about her trying to do [the race] My first thought was that it sounds like a cool opportunity, but odd for someone who lives and trains at the beach,” said men and women’s Track and field and cross-country coach Layne Schwier. “I wasn’t aware that she actually went through with it, I just thought it was some crazy idea that she had. All of a sudden I got a random text from her that said she was chosen.”
Photo Courtesy of Taylor Maloch
As an athlete, Hamon has been involved in Track and cross-country since high school. This is her third year on the UNCW team; and will be graduating a year early to go to grad school next fall. Training for this event specifically since May, Hamon says she does not want to know anything about the course until she is actually running it.
“I have no idea what to expect, they can tell me the percentage incline but I have no idea what it will be like until I’m there. Until I see the course, until I run the course, I have no way of knowing,” Hamon said.
As one of the four girls chosen from the country to compete, Hamon will be one of the oldest on the USA team. Being an upperclassman on the UNCW team, leadership is not a new concept to her.
“Everyone on the team works hard but [Hamon] works very hard to be a leader,” said UNCW Track and field and cross-country teammate Alex Boseman. “She runs more miles and holds everyone accountable to make sure they do the little things right, whether it’s eating right or getting the right amount of rest.”
As Hamon’s coach, Schwier knows the race will be difficult for her, but believes she is capable with her athletic abilities. “She’s a highly driven person, she’s a type A personality, she is very detail oriented and she is definitely a high achiever,” Schwier said. “She’s certainly one of the hardest workers and she’s able to achieve pretty highly because of that.”
Although Hamon does not see herself trying out for the Olympics, she still wants to pursue running after college. “I don’t know for sure but after five years of running in college, where I’ll be in another two years from now will be so dramatically different that if I cant just keep on the trajectory that I’m heading that I could do something bigger,” Hamon said.
After this interview Hamon packed her bags for Sapareva Banya, Bulgaria and competed in the World Mountain Running Championship on September 11. In the 3.6 kilometer race with 531meters of elevation, Hamon placed 34 out of the 50 girls in her division.
Cover photo courtesy of uncwsports.com