For some, running long distances can cause some discomfort. Those with poor stamina can experience fatigue, muscle cramps, severe thirst, headaches or worse.
But none of that is true with Strafford cross country runner Shane Burns.
“God has blessed me with a ton of stamina,” said Burns. “There’s something about [running]. It's calming, a good stress reliever.”
He didn’t start running competitively until he was a young teenager. He was a baseball player as a kid, but there was one problem: for Burns, there wasn’t enough running in baseball.
“During baseball season in fifth or sixth grade, I used to love the running part in baseball,” he said. “When I heard there was actually a sport that was all running, I thought, ‘well, I want to do that in baseball.’
“Mid-season of my freshman year, I could not throw very much at all. Turns out my left shoulder was double jointed and it made it hard for me to throw… I would have had to go through a lot of physical therapy. So I decided to go into cross country and track all together. I found my true passion in that and I love my teammates.”
Burns gives a lot of credit to his coach Duane Fabro for fanning the flame on his passion for running.
“[Fabro’s] goal is to encourage us and inspire us to run for the rest of our lives,” Burns said. “He wants us to just love running itself and not get caught up with winning meet after meet and then just be done after high school.”
Fabro doesn’t have to worry about Burns not running after high school.
Burns – who still has his senior year ahead of him at Strafford – has qualified for state his first three years of high school, highlighted by a runner-up finish at the Class 2 MSHSAA state cross country meet last fall. He also took fourth place in the 1600 meter run at the state track meet in May.
CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR BURNS — CLICK HERE FOR ALL 1 AWARDS NOMINEES
And of course, no competitor would be any good without a rival.
Springfield Catholic runner and fellow 1 Awards nominee Stephen Kielhofner took first place in both the state cross country meet and the state track meet in the 1600 last year, beating Burns in both events.
“It’s definitely a friendly rivalry,” said Burns.
Kielhofner has been on Burns’ mind all off-season. Burns has been training with Coach Fabro and his teammates, running at least 30 miles a week and training every Monday, Wednesday and Friday this summer.
“I’m going into this season training to beat Stephen,” said Burns. “During the season we talk to each other before meets. He’s very cool. He’s a great kid, he’s fun to be around and it’s fun to watch him.
“It was funny, because he thought that I was a senior last year, so he was like, ‘oh crud, you still have another year,’” Burns laughed.
Burns’ goal to beat Kielhofner is not inconceivable. Burns finished 23 seconds behind Kielhofner at the state cross country meet and has been improving his time each year at state (18:11.70 as a freshman, 17:08.11 as a sophomore and 16:63.88 last year).
Burns also ran his personal best at the Chile Pepper Relay in Fayetteville, Arkansas (15:56) last year. He’s making a point to best his own time at the event in 2016.
“I want to break 15:50 at Fayetteville, Arkansas, and I want to give Stephen a run for his money at Springfield Catholic. As well as our meet. Or wherever else we face each other,” said Burns.
No college plans have been made, but Burns wants to study and work with technology.
One thing is certain: Shane Burns won’t stop running.
“I want to run cross country and track both [in college],” said Burns. “I definitely want to go to college to study computer science. It’s completely up in the air right now for me, but I’m going to try to stay local. I love programming, or somewhere in that field. My parents want me to stay local and want me to hang out with them a bunch. There will definitely be lots of decisions that have to be made.”
