On the hottest day of the spring, Lincoln Academy runner went for it

Lincoln Academy junior Karen Higgins was the only athlete who attempted Tuesday to qualify for Nike nationals by running a 5,000-meter race at Falmouth High School. Hindered by unusually hot weather, Higgins missed the qualifying standard of 18 minutes, 40 seconds. (Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer) Purchase this image

FALMOUTH — Karen Higgins began to run, and the heat attacked her from every direction. It radiated off the track, rising from her feet into her core. The humid air was a stack of hot bricks on her shoulders, and it seemed a couple more were added to the pile with each of the 12 and a half laps Higgins completed.

A 16-year-old junior at Lincoln Academy, Higgins ran.

It was her dumb luck that the attempt to qualify for the 5,000 meters at the Nike outdoor nationals in June fell on what turned out to be the hottest day of the spring so far. The temperature went over 90 degrees in Falmouth on Tuesday afternoon, and it was 88 when the race began at 7:13 p.m.

When Higgins ran this qualifier last year, it was in the mid-60s and raining. Perfect weather. She completed her 5,000 meters in 18 minutes, 5 seconds. She went on to place 23rd in the event at the Nike nationals last June in Eugene, Oregon.

That was last year. On this Tuesday evening, while everyone who had competed in or watched the high school track meet that just ended was leaving, Higgins was the only runner fighting the clock and Mother Nature. She needed to finish in under 18:40 to hit the provisional standard to qualify for nationals again.

Higgins placed second in the Class B state cross country championship last fall. Competing for the Boothbay/Wiscasset co-op track and field team last spring, she was second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meters at the Class C state meet.

“I really enjoy doing long distances. Even though it’s a little mentally draining during the race, it’s fun to feel the accomplishment afterward,” Higgins said.

A 5,000-meter race on the track is essentially the same distance as a high school cross country race, although the terrain doesn’t change. There’s no hills to climb or puddles or roots to maneuver. It’s a deja vu race, the same thing again and again until you’re done.

Georgia Moon, a junior at Falmouth and one of Higgins’ friends, ran the first few laps with her. Moon peeled off after just over a mile and spent the rest of the race cheering her on. Moon was the top Maine finisher at the New England cross country championship last November. She knew exactly what her friend was going through on the track.

“A 5K is about training your mind to adapt when things get hard, because you’re just by yourself for a long time. This is the hardest thing to race,” Moon said.

Earlier in the day, some friends at other schools called Higgins and told her how hot it was, and that she was the only one entered in the 5,000. She still wanted to do it, but knew the muggy air was going to be awful.

“The first mile, I tried to stay pretty confident. I was like, ‘OK, I’ve got this,’ even though there was the heat,” Higgins said. “The second mile, I was definitely feeling the heat. My legs started feeling a little tired toward the end of the second mile. Then I was, OK, I’ve just got to finish it. Around there, at some point, I was like, I could just stop. I was thinking about it, but I didn’t do it.”

It’s hard to run a race by yourself, Higgins said. There’s nobody in front of you to chase down. There’s nobody behind you to hold off. If you’re alone, is it even a race?

Higgins ran. Her father, Joshua, stationed himself at the far end of the track, 200 meters from the finish line, and yelled split times to her. She did the math in her head as a distraction from the mental and physical grind — “if I maintain that pace, I’ll finish in what?”

On Lap 7, Higgins ditched her sunglasses, and she ran.

Meet organizers cleaned up around the scorer’s table at the finish line, and she ran.

The Falmouth High track and field athletes who had competed in the meet prior to the 5,000 held a postrace discussion with coaches, and she ran.

As Higgins ran the final 200 meters, those Navigators wrapped up their meeting and lined up along the track’s edge, cheering her to the finish. Higgins crossed the finish line at around 19:16, off the standard needed to qualify for nationals, but considering the kiln-like conditions, a strong effort.

Higgins collapsed onto the artificial turf of the infield steps after she completed her run. She was quickly on her feet. Rob Sullivan, Falmouth’s athletic trainer, handed her a bag of ice. Higgins held it on her head to cool down.

The competitive spirit sees the thermometer, shrugs, and goes anyway.