Clark Wahlberg is a junior on Page High School’s Cross Country team and has had an amazing season so far. He has placed 17th in the large 40th annual Greensboro Invitational at Hagan Stone Park and has performed well at many other meets this season.

During cross country meets he will run 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) and has a PR of 17:20 for the 5k. His practicing schedule includes running 5+ days a week for not only cross country but also for indoor and outdoor track. There is usually meet a week on either Wednesday or Saturday. The cross country season ends with the Guilford County Championships, the Conference Meet, and the Regional Meet.

Before a race his feelings depend on the race and day. When he has to get up early before a meet to get on a bus he doesn’t feel his best, but other times his body feels at its best and ready to go. After running for quite a while he has realized that how he feels before a race doesn’t change how well he would do in a race and that it is all about mentality. He almost always gets a PR when he feels confident.

He started running in middle school because of the motivation from his dad who goes on runs in his neighborhood. He has been running consistently for most of his life and convinced Clark to join the cross country team at Saint Pius where he started organized distance running and enjoyed it. His father is the person who most affects his running career over many conversations on long car rides and walks teaching Clark how to be a better and more healthy runner. During his freshman-sophomore summer he got a knee injury that prohibited him from running for 10 weeks. His father kept him motivated and did PT exercises with Clark until he recovered.

He doesn’t exactly know where he will be in the distant future but is planning on going to college and will still be running for fun in the least. Clark’s favorite season for running is unpopular for other runners but it is the indoor track season. He likes being able to practice outside on the track when it is cold outside and also enjoys the meets at the JDL indoor track facility. During races Clark wears a thin and light shirt and normal athletic shorts as well as an Apple watch to record his runs. The shoes that he chooses to wear during races are Mizuno Wave Riders.