October 21, 2021
This past Saturday, nearly 300 runners and walkers wound their way around the athletic fields and through the woods in the 2021 Twister Trot. Thank you for taking part in this wonderful event, for honoring Marcy Speer and the many others in our community who have battled cancer with courage and strength. I was struck by how many names were submitted to be read during the opening ceremony. So many in our extended TDS family have fought this terrible disease.
I’d like to thank Casey Speer (TDS ’10, Riverside HS ’14, and Georgetown University ’18) for returning to TDS to speak about her mom, and what this race means to her. As has become her custom, Casey brought a dozen friends with her. Thanks as well to our volunteers, most notably Alaina Pantoja, and to McCallum Keats (TDS ‘18) who returned to sing the National Anthem.
With the race moving onto campus this year, this allowed for the addition of a 100 yard dash for each Lower School class. Clearly a crowd favorite, the dash will no doubt return next year. Congratulations to these grade-level winners:
TK Walker Maxwell
K Felix Newark
1st Charlie Landi
2nd Micah Stevens
3rd Cy Hannula
4th Madden Cooney
5th Dominick Barberio
The next event was the 2.1 mile race. The top finishers were all Middle School students – a testament to their fitness, and to Coach Morrison’s rigorous Physical Education regimen. Congratulations to Connor Winstead (champion), Will McDuff (2nd), Nayan Valdez (3rd), Jahan Krishnamoorthy (4th), as well as Samantha Wilson (CFS ‘22) and Irena Rand (top female finishers).
And what about those free lunches? Ms. Hill ran a great race, setting a high bar for our girls, one that only Irena could surpass. By contrast, I was not able to chase down the many boys who took off at the start and never looked back. Joining Connor, Will, Nayan, and Jahan for a Cookout lunch next Tuesday are Jonah Ades, Ravi Couto, Dominick Barberio, Avery Neely, Matthew Collier, and Joseph Schneider.
One thing I love about this challenge is the milestones it creates. On Saturday, Matthew Collier crossed the threshold. During the previous four races, I was able to track him down and pass him during the second half of the race. This year, owing to his sustained hard work (and joining the Cross Country team!), he’ll be enjoying lunch next Tuesday.
This report by the Brookings Institute highlights the importance of drive – “the ability to apply oneself to a task and stick with it, even when it becomes difficult or boring” – and prudence – “the ability to defer gratification and look to the future” – two cornerstones of performance character. Analyzing a data set from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, the authors concluded that children who scored high on drive and prudence go on to “attain more years of education, earn more, and likely outperform other individuals in other areas of life.” More specifically, when analyzing correlations with academic success, it seems that drive and prudence matter as much as math and reading scores.
I’m not suggesting that Twister Trot race results have any long-term predictive value when it comes to success in life. That said, I can tell you that I’ve seen plenty of drive on display during this race over the years. And in Matthew’s case, he has been seeking this lunch for five years. How’s that for delayed gratification!
