Brian Hobson
sports@mitchellnews.com
Kayla Blevins was born to run, or at least it’s in her blood. Her father Larry Suiter remembers all the times she would run alongside him as a child while he trained for long distance runs. Her talent for running soon became apparent, and she went on to compete in track and cross-country at McDowell High in Marion. She was eventually recruited by Montreat College to join their track team, where she excelled in the 5000-meters.
After taking a break from running to focus on raising her children, Kayla decided to get back into the sport a few years ago. Her father introduced her to the races he used to run, and Kayla quickly discovered that her love of running was as strong as ever.
Last year, on a freezing day in March, Kayla took a shot at qualifying for the Boston Marathon. Her father had his doubts, due to the weather, but Kayla proved those doubts were unfounded. Despite the challenging weather conditions, she finished second in her age group with an average 7:47 mile and earned a spot in the prestigious race. And now, in a few days, Kayla and her dad will be flying to Boston, to see the culmination of years of training. And her dad couldn’t be happier.