Windham Runner Juggles Academic, Athletic Dreams

It's quite the understatement to say that Windham High School junior Kate Farrell has been a little busy lately.

For starters, she will always be known as the first runner at her school to go to the New England championships. She broke that barrier on Nov. 19, 2011 when she made the trip to Foster, RI to represent the Jaguars.

"As far as placement I didn't feel that great that day, but getting there was my biggest goal," she said.

Tack on an all-state recognition and Farrell is clearly the best female runner in the short three-year history of the program.

But it's the effort to balance the academics that truly keeps her busy.

Start with the college hunt. Farrell has the grades to look at the Ivy's – Yale in particular – but she also has 21 other schools on her laundry list of options.

"By next year I'll have it narrowed down," she said, laughing about the fee costs it would take to actually apply to all 22.

There are a lot of factors involved in choosing an institution that works for her. 

Farrell said that she wants to major in both psychology and biology with a minor in literature. Every college underclassmen who has ever wrestled with an undecided tag for their first two years would envy Farrell and her commitment.

But it's not just what a school will offer in the classroom. Farrell wants to run in college, and she wants to parlay that into a half marathon one day. She wants to take that and turn it into a full marathon. 

That's the idea with Farrell everyday. It's not just knocking down barriers and records at her own high school, she is consistently focused on achieving milestones for herself.

Of course, it's no surprise she has the goal of being a marathon runner embedded in her mind. Just look around her.

Farrell said that her grandpa did the Boston Marathon, all the while not even running with a regular pair of running shoes. Her father did marathons when she was little. Her coach Kate Jackson – well she's only done nearly two dozen Ironmans in her life, which isn't just the marathon, but quite a bit of swimming and biking as well.

But then there's the fact that Farrell is only 17. Her ambition is there, but so is the time.

It's also impossible to miss her youthful energy. The first half-marathon that Farrell wants to do – she wants to run through the castle at Disney World.

"They have a princess half marathon and you run through Cinderella's castle," she said with a smile. "I just love Disney."

Speaking of ambition, she also talked about the Goofy Challenge at Disney, where runners tackle a 3.1 mile race on the first day, a half marathon the next and top off the cardiovascular weekend with a good old 26.2 mile marathon.

You see, Farrell hasn't even done a marathon, but she's already thinking bigger.

But for somebody who was doing fun runs in Derry as a nine-year-old when her parents got her into the sport, Farrell said she has always loved running and challenging herself more and more.

She admitted that you have to possess a certain "crazy" mentality to do what distance runners do, but added that she is glad every day that she chose running as her sport.

It's not even exclusively about setting and breaking goals, but rather the friendships and comradery.

"(Running is) more about the atmosphere," she said. "As far as the actual competitiveness, it's kind of just about going out there and having fun."

Right now Farrell is in the midst of her spring track season. Her goals, as usual, are high. She constantly wants to cut her times and get better every day.

While running is the focus today, Farrel has been tackling other pursuits to place on the college applications. 

Many classmates have been referring to her lately as the "Hunger Games" girl. That's because last month she flew down to Tennessee and spent time taking on the role as the main heroine of the novels – Katniss Everdeen.

Her role as the main character in Suzanne Collins' popular trilogy was for a professionally made short film created by graphic designer Jonathan Parris.

Farrell explained that she loves reading and she loves the books, which is why she auditioned for the role.

"I read them because a librarian recommended them to me in middle school," she said.

While she said it takes a ton of time to shoot short films and there is so much detail involved in them, they also coordinate well with her haywire schedule.

"I can still run and do everything else, which is awesome," she said.

The final cut of the film has over 7,000 views on YouTube.

It seems appropriate that if Farrell's biggest passions are mentioned, her involvement with the WHS "Go Green" Club also gets a mention.

The organization held a fair last weekend, bringing out eco-conscious residents and dozens of local businesses.

There's a funny tidbit to know about Farrell though. While she wears all of these hats, she would never have the motivation to do something if it wasn't on her own accord.

"For me I've always just really enjoyed being busy and there's a lot of things I feel passionate about, but I wouldn't be able to do it if it was someone pushing me to do it," she said.

"There are a lot of things that I want to explore and see where they go."