Everything has got to start somewhere, and for junior Connor O’Hara, it was in the halls of Riverview Elementary School.

“I just started running with the former gym teacher because he was training for a race, and I’d go down to his classroom after school and hang out with him. He started running and I just started doing it with him, and that’s what started it,” O’Hara said.

After running for six years, he knows he’s found what he loves. “It takes up pretty much my whole year because I do track and cross-country, so I’m constantly running, and some of my closest friends run as well, so it’s kind of like a passion, I guess,” he said.

With the people he’s met as well as the rewards of finishing a race, he’s grown to love the sport more as the years go on.

“At this point I’ve kind of realized that it’s my niche, I guess. With my body type and everything, I don’t really fit in any other sport, so at this point I’ve realized that running [is] my ticket,” he said.