Lexington High School senior Clara Fu has committed to run in Hamilton College’s Division III program next year. At LHS, Fu runs cross country and track, competing during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. 

Fu first found her love for running in seventh grade through competitive swimming where she used dryland exercises to improve her swimming performance. 

“My favorite part of swimming was dryland where we ran laps. Then, I was like, ‘oh there is a whole sport for this,’ and then I just joined the track team at Clarke,” Fu said.

Since then, Fu has dedicated herself to running, specializing in long distance events, such as the 5K in cross country and the Two-Mile in indoor track. 

“I personally like the longer distance, because I think that’s what I’m stronger at. I like being able to pace myself. ” Fu said. 

Fu also shared the difficulties that she experienced during her track journey.

“I do go through ups and downs mentally and do go through some motivation struggles sometimes. However, in those cases I would take a couple days to rest, and take it easy on myself, and slowly work my way back to being motivated again,” Fu said.

She’s found that running brings her relaxation and peace despite its active nature.

“I feel like running really helps clear my mind, it’s pretty relaxing, even though that’s activity.” Fu said.

Fu aims to improve her personal bests before she heads off to New York for college.  

“With each meet, my goal is to do better than last time. [Personal Record] wise, my goal is to go under 11:30 minutes in the two mile. In general, my goal is just to be a stronger runner,” Fu said.