CV cross-country runners earn Saturday donuts

It’s 8:45 on a sunny summer Saturday morning, and folks are drifting into the Krispy Kreme for doughnuts and coffee like the store sees every morning.

Across from the drive-thru window, a group of high school boys gathers, most of them wearing the blue of the Central Valley cross country team.

“We meet every weekday morning at the high school for our training runs, but on Saturdays we meet up here and go for a long run on the Centennial Trail,” coach Kieran Mahoney explained. “And then we eat some doughnuts.”

Your typical training table doesn’t feature anything custard-filled or covered in chocolate and sprinkles, but when you run 11 or 12 miles, you’re entitled to a little recreational eating.

“That’s been a tradition for as long as I remember,” senior Fielding Demars said. “That’s one of the fun things we do. We go for a long run. Sometimes we jump in the river and take a swim, and then we eat doughnuts.”

Changing things up, by itself, is a pleasant change for Saturday workouts. Throw in a chance for a quick dip in the river and a few fresh doughnuts and you have something to look forward to every week.

“We usually do an 80-minute run (on Saturdays), so that will work out to, depending on the day and how hard we want to push, anywhere from 10 to 11 or 12 miles,” Demars said.

“Our freshmen run with us and we get a chance to talk to them, encourage them, and make sure they aren’t doing things like trying to cut corners or walking,” Sheamus Mahoney, the coach’s son, said. “It can be pretty social. It’s an out-and-back run, so we get a chance to see everybody. It’s fun.

“I want to say my dad started that Saturday run when he took over the program in 2009. You need things like that. We try to change it up during the week, but really there are only three different runs you can do when you start at the high school and they all include the same 1-mile stretch of road. It gets old fast.”

What doesn’t get old is the string of success Central Valley has enjoyed – while indulging in a summer full of original glazed goodness. The Bears won the state championship in 2012 with Demars’ brother, Briton, running as a sophomore.

“I learned a lot watching my brother run,” Fielding Demars said. “He wasn’t that fast when he got to CV and he didn’t break five minutes in the mile until, I want to say, he was a sophomore. He’s the one who taught me what it means to be part of the program. He would get me up to run with him in the mornings and he taught me what dedication looks like. Running in the winter, the spring, the summer – all getting ready for the fall.”

Fielding Demars and Mahoney both stress the importance of teaching the incoming freshmen about what it means to be a part of the tradition that is Central Valley cross country.

“I don’t think I really understood what it meant to be part of a team until I was a freshman,” Fielding Demars said. “In middle school I was more ‘Every man for himself.’ There is something very special about coming together as a team – not just being teammates. You learn to care about each other, and when that happens, magic can happen. You can accomplish amazing things together.”

Last year, the Bears finished second at state, and the top five finishers at state and six of the seven state runners for CV a year ago return. Junior Ryan Kline placed 14th overall and senior Gabe Romney was 17th. Juniors Evan Peters and Joey Nicholls along with Fielding Demars and Mahoney are back for a senior season and already are priming themselves for a stellar season.

“We’re ahead of where we were at this time last year,” the coach explained.

At state a year ago, the seven CV runners finished within 59 seconds of one another.

“I didn’t have a great race at state last year,” Sheamus Mahoney said. “But no one said a word about it. That’s what this team is all about. We’re a brotherhood.”

This year the brotherhood is running in an even tighter pack.

“Front to back, we’re about 40 seconds right now,” Kieran Mahoney said. “That’s good. But by the time we get into the season, I want us to be half that.

“I think the big thing that we need to learn is that we can’t settle. We can’t get happy with where we are. We have to stay hungry and we have to keep pushing ourselves and keep pushing each other.”

And they will continue to do that over doughnuts.

Every Saturday.