Britta Miller (Class of 2018)
Photo by John Roemer
I graduated from Hereford in 2018. I ran cross country all four years. As a senior, I really stuck it out and worked super hard over the summer (ran 225 miles) in order to have an awesome senior year. I was a senior the first time I did Falls Road hills. I remember the run to get there and thinking "jeez, this is a long run and I STILL have to do hills?" It was awful. I was the last one up the hill every time.
For some reason I remember two guy friends of mine having a bag of gummy bears and deciding to eat them right before we started the workout. For what purpose? No idea.
I never had the speed factor, but I did have determination. I was a senior, first year on varsity, but even the thought of being one of the few people selected to go to run the hills was enough for me. And I completed every single one of them. Once it was over, I definitely felt a lot of pride in myself.
In regard to memories, I specifically remember waiting to get my special Falls Road Hills workout t-shirt from coach within the week. It was neon orange and ugly, but I was so excited to wear it to school (even though most of the school would have no idea what it meant.)
I can't even begin to tell you how much my time as a runner at Hereford meant to me. Running was the first thing that really connected with me. I had never been an athlete, but Coach Roemer gave me the support and courage to keep with it. Running is so freeing to me, and it's stuck with me since then.
As a freshman at the University of Maryland, I joined club running. Due to scheduling issues I couldn't keep going, but I continued going to the gym and running continuously. Now, as a junior at the University of Maryland, I completed my first half marathon on October 17th, and I still think that my time at Hereford led me to accomplish that.
I still stay in touch with Coach Roemer regularly (even sending him the splits from my half marathon) and it has served as a major connection between me and my sister, who graduated from Hereford in 2020 and is now a freshman at the University of Delaware. The running program at Hereford and Coach have had such an immense impact on us. She also still runs regularly. When we're both home at the same time, we like to run together. We even did a virtual turkey trot at home this Thanksgiving, all dressed up in our turkey attire and ready to go at 8 am (way too early and cold).