AUBURN - By the time Chris Wawro was just 7 years old, he was fascinated by watching his father Ted prepare for and compete in The Great Race.
Now at the age of 9, Wawro is still inspired to compete and emulate his father.
“My dad would tell me about being in the race with his friends,” Wawro said. “I wanted to be on the youngest team ever in the race, so I got the idea to put a team together.”
At first, Wawro's parent were a little hesitant about the idea.
“We weren't even sure if the committee would let such a young team enter,” Ted said. “But it also came with some stipulations. And we were also worried about them getting hurt, things like what happen if there is rough water and they have problems with the boat or get hurt out running or riding. But we made some stipulations, if he could show that he was willing to train and put in the work it was going to take then we would let him enter the race.”
While this pushed Wawro's plans back a year, it didn't dampen his enthusiasm for his goal one bit.
Along with friends Parker Foresman (canoeing), 10, Tommy Alexander (biking), 10, and Billy Farrington (canoeing), 10, Wawro (running) got the Owasco Rugrats together in time for the 2004 Great Race on the short course.
Denise Farrington said that she was really impressed with the kids' undeniable will to participate.
“Their determination is amazing to see,” Denise said. “It is great to see such young kids who know what they want to do and work so hard to make it happen.”
Their first year out the Owasco Rugrats made a solid showing for such young kids, placing fifth from last.
The Rugrats had a lot of support from friends and family and got the crowd on their side as they beat out their shadow team Watch The Kids in the last leg of the canoeing.
“They were ahead of us,” Farrington said. “And then we passed them right at the end and they were still way behind us when we were crossing the finish line. All the people were there cheering for us. It was really cool.”
While the race is the main attraction, the entire experience of the Great Race has really turned into an exciting time for the whole team.
“It is really neat to be in the race,” Wawro said. “And it is even better when you get the plaque. But everything is a lot of fun, the food and music and stuff and all the people, it is really fun to be there.”
By all accounts the kids had an incredible time their first year.
“It was amazing,” Foresman said. “It felt so good just to get in the race and be the youngest team to finish and reach our goal.”
After that first year there was little doubt that they would be back at it again.
In 2005, the team scratched its way up to an eighth from last finish, even overcoming a few minor set backs.
“We are always really happy to finish,” Farrington said. “We always just hope nothing tragic happens like that year when Tommy's chain fell off of his bike. But he got it back on and we still finished and still did better than we did the year before.”
This improved performance was the product of a lot of hard work and a littler bit of seasoning.
“We got three places better,” Wawro said. “It helped that we knew the course and how to run it and we practiced a lot more and I think that helped make us better.”
Since the Owasco Rugrats have pioneered their way to the race, there has been an increase in younger teams entering each year.
“They were ground breakers,” Ted said. “Before them there weren't young teams in the race. They've really paved the way.”
Friends from school have been inspired to follow in the Rugrats footsteps.
“More people have gotten teams together,” Farrington said. “Some of our friends from school and stuff have teams. It is kind of fun because it gives us some rivals to try to beat.”
The influx of younger teams has only served to motivate the Rugrats to push themselves a little harder this year to be in top form.
Collectively all of the team is pretty active athletically playing everything from basketball and tennis to lacrosse and ice hockey.
But for the last few months they have been hard at work training for this year's race.
“There is so much to do,” Foresman said. “And there isn't always enough time to practice, but we have been spending time getting ready whenever we can and it really helps that we play other sports, it helps build up our strength that we need for the race.”
This hard work has been paying off.
Wawro has been running in hopes of shaving precious seconds off of his time.
“I'm down to 26 minutes,” Wawro said. “A year or so ago I was about 30 minutes. When I ran today I was down to 25 minutes and 43 seconds. I really wanted to beat 26 minutes and I got my time down 17 seconds.”
There is little doubt the team will be hard at work one way or the other for years to come.
“Especially after their first race we knew this was something they'd never give up,” Denise said. “I think they'll go on forever.”
“My dad would tell me about being in the race with his friends,” Wawro said. “I wanted to be on the youngest team ever in the race, so I got the idea to put a team together.”
At first, Wawro's parent were a little hesitant about the idea.
“We weren't even sure if the committee would let such a young team enter,” Ted said. “But it also came with some stipulations. And we were also worried about them getting hurt, things like what happen if there is rough water and they have problems with the boat or get hurt out running or riding. But we made some stipulations, if he could show that he was willing to train and put in the work it was going to take then we would let him enter the race.”
While this pushed Wawro's plans back a year, it didn't dampen his enthusiasm for his goal one bit.
Along with friends Parker Foresman (canoeing), 10, Tommy Alexander (biking), 10, and Billy Farrington (canoeing), 10, Wawro (running) got the Owasco Rugrats together in time for the 2004 Great Race on the short course.
Denise Farrington said that she was really impressed with the kids' undeniable will to participate.
“Their determination is amazing to see,” Denise said. “It is great to see such young kids who know what they want to do and work so hard to make it happen.”
Their first year out the Owasco Rugrats made a solid showing for such young kids, placing fifth from last.
The Rugrats had a lot of support from friends and family and got the crowd on their side as they beat out their shadow team Watch The Kids in the last leg of the canoeing.
“They were ahead of us,” Farrington said. “And then we passed them right at the end and they were still way behind us when we were crossing the finish line. All the people were there cheering for us. It was really cool.”
While the race is the main attraction, the entire experience of the Great Race has really turned into an exciting time for the whole team.
“It is really neat to be in the race,” Wawro said. “And it is even better when you get the plaque. But everything is a lot of fun, the food and music and stuff and all the people, it is really fun to be there.”
By all accounts the kids had an incredible time their first year.
“It was amazing,” Foresman said. “It felt so good just to get in the race and be the youngest team to finish and reach our goal.”
After that first year there was little doubt that they would be back at it again.
In 2005, the team scratched its way up to an eighth from last finish, even overcoming a few minor set backs.
“We are always really happy to finish,” Farrington said. “We always just hope nothing tragic happens like that year when Tommy's chain fell off of his bike. But he got it back on and we still finished and still did better than we did the year before.”
This improved performance was the product of a lot of hard work and a littler bit of seasoning.
“We got three places better,” Wawro said. “It helped that we knew the course and how to run it and we practiced a lot more and I think that helped make us better.”
Since the Owasco Rugrats have pioneered their way to the race, there has been an increase in younger teams entering each year.
“They were ground breakers,” Ted said. “Before them there weren't young teams in the race. They've really paved the way.”
Friends from school have been inspired to follow in the Rugrats footsteps.
“More people have gotten teams together,” Farrington said. “Some of our friends from school and stuff have teams. It is kind of fun because it gives us some rivals to try to beat.”
The influx of younger teams has only served to motivate the Rugrats to push themselves a little harder this year to be in top form.
Collectively all of the team is pretty active athletically playing everything from basketball and tennis to lacrosse and ice hockey.
But for the last few months they have been hard at work training for this year's race.
“There is so much to do,” Foresman said. “And there isn't always enough time to practice, but we have been spending time getting ready whenever we can and it really helps that we play other sports, it helps build up our strength that we need for the race.”
This hard work has been paying off.
Wawro has been running in hopes of shaving precious seconds off of his time.
“I'm down to 26 minutes,” Wawro said. “A year or so ago I was about 30 minutes. When I ran today I was down to 25 minutes and 43 seconds. I really wanted to beat 26 minutes and I got my time down 17 seconds.”
There is little doubt the team will be hard at work one way or the other for years to come.
“Especially after their first race we knew this was something they'd never give up,” Denise said. “I think they'll go on forever.”
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