Caitlin Conn - Running with Genetics

Caitlin Conn was raised in Port Royal, Pennsylvania (population 925 in the 2010 census).  Her father was a sports enthusiast and former soccer player and mother was a physical education teacher who had played basketball for nearby Penn State University.  Athletics were prominent in her childhood as she showed Caitlin riding her horsehorses starting at age four and remembers running a half mile on several occasions because her mother said it would improve her basketball skills. She detested running with her mother driving alongside in the family automobile providing frequent updates on Caitlin’s running speed.   She attended a small Christian School and later Selinsgrove Area High School.  She enjoyed track and field day where her best running event was the 400 meter run but her favorite event was the high jump.  Her preparation for the event was the result of home practice using her bed as a landing mat!

Caitlin matriculated at Penn State University majoring in biology where she was required to take two physical education courses.  On a whim Caitlin chose jogging as she figured this would allow her to get in better shape without too much strenuous exercise.  The course was intense involving speed work, hill repeats, long runs around campus and even developing a half marathon training plan.  After completion of the course, Caitlin no longer felt like running “wasn’t her thing”.  She followed up with a few 5K races in her home town and at Penn State.  Her mentor was a late sixty year old named Larry who was faster than Caitlin.  They completed her first half marathon and she learned the importance of proper hydration as Larry passed out at the finish line.  Since then Caitlin and her sister Nicole plan to run together in the 2014 Rock n’ Roll Marathon in Savannah and the 2015 Florida Keys Ragnar relay.

Caitlin at the Ath HalfAfter graduation from Penn State in 2011, Caitlin relocated to Athens, Georgia to enroll in the PhD program in genetics but her horse did not come with her.  She, however, has had considerable experience in analyzing Dawg genetics since her transplant.  She plans on a career in “academics” after acquiring her PhD (in Georgia this means post hold digger!).  In Athens, she missed the competitive environment of horse shows and the yearlong pursuit of show points.  At one of her first 5Ks in Georgia, she noticed a man wearing a Run and See Georgia 1,000 point jacket.  A quick search on the Internet revealed information on the Run and See Georgia series, the Black Bag Race Series and the Clover Glove Race Series.  By the end of 2014 Caitlin had earned a black bag, hat, and several mismatched Clover Gloves.   Her goal this year is to earn an entire outfit with matching gloves.

Caitlin and David EcklesCaitlin enjoys the competitive aspect of series racing-especially when her top rival David Eckles participates.  She acknowledges that the main reason she participates is because of the “incredible running community she’s found”.  Her favorite races are the final three (heat, hills, and humidity) of the Twelve Days of Christmas in July because there is a strong sense of camaraderie among those who put themselves out there for all that series and especially the last three races.  She cannot identify a PR for a 5K as she does not wear a watch and her races have been “on courses of questionable distance “measured by one or more genetically challenged persons.  Her Half Marathon PR is 1:44 from the 2013 Athens Half.         

Caitlin doesn’t worry about race times as she once did.  Experiencing the fellowship of racing has helped her realize that running faster can be fun, yet ”there’s a whole lot more to running than what gets written on the finish card”.

Bob checking out from the back of the pack, look for the profile on Tom Skafidas and the profile on Black Bag’s Eva Allbritton.