The Kidney Kare 5K Run/Walk took place on March 15, 2014. The UNC Kidney Center recently highlighed the stories of four participants who participated in the event.
Britta Jones (pictured, on the left) is a graduate student at UNC who is researching genetics and ANCA disease. Britta plays ultimate frisbee competitively and also coaches the Carrboro High School Ultimate team, the Carrboro Clams. She and her co-coach, Heather Zimmerman (who is also pictured here) are asking the entire team to participate in the Kidney Kare Run.
Why did you sign up for the event?
I’m an athlete, I play ultimate frisbee on a North Carolina all-star team and running a 5k is a great pre-season training opportunity. A typical Ultimate tournament entails 15-28 miles of sprinting…so a 5K is always a welcome excuse to go on a run.
Are you training with your Ultimate team?
My team is presently in their off-season, which means I train on my own. Outside of my own training, I coach the Carrboro High School Ultimate team, the Carrboro Clams. This is my 5th season of coaching this team (made up of 25 boys and 3 girls). The high school season runs February-May, so I am using the Kidney Kare 5K as a training and bonding opportunity for the Clams. They are training for it both in and outside of practice. They have a tournament in Wilmington, NC 2 weeks after the 5K, so the timing couldn’t be better!
This is a great opportunity for both the team to run together and to invite their parents, siblings and friends to join them. We are planning on all running in our jerseys as one big “ClamFam.”
How are you and your team members getting ready for the run?
We do team runs (2-4miles) on trails as well as track workouts (sprints and longer repeat 400s and 800s) to train for ultimate. Thus we aren’t really doing anything to prepare for the run, specifically, but are using the run to help us prepare for the season and the upcoming tournament.
Will the team run together?
I imagine the kids will break into about 3 smaller groups based on their paces. We have kids aged 14-18 as well as our 3 girls, so they don’t all run at the same pace.
What are you looking forward to on race day?
I am looking forward to seeing all of the Clams in their jerseys running together. These kids are really athletic and a number of them run Cross Country in the fall or play Soccer…so running is something they all enjoy, even when not chasing after a disc.
The Clams are a really tight knit group of kids that I love dearly. We’ve taken to calling their parents the “ClamFam” and their friends the “ClamFans.” The Kidney Kare 5K was just a great opportunity to join the two halves of my life, the UNC Kidney Center and the Carrboro Clams.
Go Clams!
- Carrboro Clams
