Archive: Sports

Kevin HowellTwo years ago Kevin Howell won his first race, the Fillmore 5K, in 21 minutes and 25 seconds.  The remarkable thing is that this was the first race he ever competed in.  He not only won first place in the ten and under age group but he beat the record for his age group at that race.  Kevin currently holds the 3rd and 4th grade mile records at Lansing.  He's made All American at the Junior Olympics in cross country in 2004 and Track in 2005.  A few weeks ago he qualified for the Junior Olympics in track in the 3000m.  He has accomplished this in spite of being out of the running for a good part of the year due to growing pains.

It started when Kevin saw varsity runner Nate Lockett go by while attending the after school program.  He asked then coach Jason Eade whether he could come up with the team.  "Then Kevin started managing the Boys Cross County team and set the third year mile record for Lansing, then in fourth grade he broke the fourth grade mile record," says his mother Debra.  "That still stands.  Nate and the other guys on the team told Kevin, 'You have to run, Kev.'  Eventually we heard about the Ithaca United Track Club."  Kevin joined when he entered fifth grade and earned 'All American' at the Junior Olympics Nationals in cross country the same year.

He won his age group at the Labor Day 5K that year and won again, taking the gold medal at the Associations meet and again at Regionals.  That qualified him for the National Junior Olympics in Shaumburg, IL.  The top 25 finishers out of hundreds for his age group earn All American status.  Kevin took 23rd in the country.

Not bad for a first year!  Next year Kevin will be entering 7th Grade at Lansing middle school and he is excited about his unexpected success.  But he works hard for it, training hard every day and watching his diet.  The hard part is candy and chocolate.  "That wasn't really hard to give up, but now I'm back into it again," he admits.  "I'm trying to cut it off."  But Debra says he has what it takes to do it.  "He just amazes me, because when he decided he wasn't going to eat junk food any more he just didn't," she says.  "The next day he didn't eat junk food.  And all his friends are eating junk food -- he's not doing any of that.  He's counting protein grams. It's amazing."

Eade, who has known Kevin since birth, encouraged Debra to get Kevin running.  "He kept telling me, 'You're not understanding me, Deb.  He's really good.'  He told me Kevin has a natural stride and a naturally high VO2 Max, which is Volume of Oxygen.  All of those things are distance runner qualities."

Kevin practices with coach Andri Goncarobs every day, running different distances, depending on what he is trying to accomplish.  He has learned to be disciplined and how to pace himself for the long runs.  "I learned how not to overwork myself, Kevin says.  "Protect my assets, how to eat healthy and eat lots of protein."

Debra says, "Andri coaches youth runners because he loves it," says Debra.  "And his son, Andris, is a runner like Kevin."  Andris has become a good friend as they have trained, traveled and run in meets together. Some days he runs five or six miles.  On a 'speed day' he runs 400 and 200 meters.  "Intervals is the worst night," Kevin says.  "You run 100 meters.  Each time you have to hit around 17 to 19 seconds, and we do 50 of them."  

Though he comes from a sports family, with Howells in the Lansing Sports Hall of Fame, his Uncle Bill is the only other family member who runs.  "He came up and tried to compete against Kevin, and Kevin beat him," Debra says.  Lockett, home from college for the summer, works with Kevin on his own time, because he likes him.  And he remains Kevin's hero.


Debra has encouraged her son in many ways, including arranging for him to meet famous runners.  He met Dick Beardsley, who took second in the Boston Marathon against Alberto Salazar in their "Duel to the Sun" finish at the 1982 Boston Marathon.  At the Nationals in Indianapolis he met Bob Kennedy, the American record holder in the 5,000 meters.  They already have a scrap book thick with pictures and memorabilia from Kevin's triumphs.

Kevin says his goal is to win the Boston Marathon.  He would also like to go to the Olympics some day, running in the marathon or the 10,000, and to join his Uncle Don and grandfather Jim on the wall in the Lansing Sports Hall of Fame.  He says he thinks about Jordan Hasay while he's running.  She is a Californian high school runner who won the Footlocker Nationals this year and  holds the 3,000 and 1,500 meter youth records at Junior Olympics.


This weekend Kevin is in Baltimore, competing in the Nationals.  To qualify he won the gold at the Niagara  Association Meet in the 3,000 meters.  The top three went to the regional competition in Buffalo July 8th, where he  won the bronze medal.   The Nationals go from July 25th to the 30th.  Kevin will run on the 28th.

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Pictures courtesy of Kevin Howell

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