Athlete of the Week: Lida Padgett

Varsity cross country runner and junior Lida Padgett broke East’s school record at the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville, Arkansas last weekend. Padget ran an 18:01, beating 2022 East alum Grace Meyer’s 18:06 from last year and placing 14th overall. Padgett has been running since elementary school, but it became more of a passion in middle and high school. Now, she is working towards breaking 18 minutes for a 5K and winning state with her team.

How did you get into running?

“My family always did this annual 5K on the 4th of July. One year I wanted to try and run a certain time and this carried over to high school cross country. I also did Girls on the Run in elementary school, and I took that way too seriously.”

How has your work in the past few years shown at recent meets?

“I have always done summer and winter conditioning. The conditioning is what sets athletes apart when it comes to all sports. I think that’s a huge factor in cross country and track. Last year, I didn’t do as well as I had wanted to because I am anemic. I started taking iron supplements which have really been helping me. I’ve also been weightlifting.”

What are your goals as a runner?

“I want to break more records. I would like to break 18:00 later in the season. Overall, I think it’d be pretty cool to win state. I would like to run D1 in college, but I think that’d be painful.”

How did the Chili Pepper Festival go?

“Arkansas is always very aggressive. I remember having to elbow my way through [the crowd of runners]. Once I got in my position, I knew a girl I had to stick with. I was trying to get top 10, but I never thought I would be crossing the finish line that fast. I turned the corner and looked up at my time, but I was just a little too far to break 18:00. I finished way faster than I thought and even my coach didn’t think I would run that fast.”

How has cross country changed your relationships?

“I’ve definitely met all my best friends on the cross country team. We all run together and we go through this really painful exercise together every single day. I feel like that definitely helps build bonds between one another. Just because we spend like so many hours staring off into thin air. We’ve definitely learned a lot about each other. It’s fun to have people with you during those hard times.”

What does breaking the school record mean to you?

“In elementary school, I used to be part of a track club. I didn’t feel special or I didn’t feel that I was really good. I got to middle school and I started realizing that I might be pretty good and then I got to high school and I made varsity. I feel like I’ve progressed a lot as a runner throughout my years and finally reaching a goal that everybody wants feels amazing. When Grace Meyer broke it last year, I thought there was no way I could do it. Seeing myself now, I am so much stronger.” 

Even as a junior, how do you act as a leader on the team? 

“I lead the workouts normally because I’m the fastest. I set the pace and I try to be a good role model. I especially try to include the underclassmen because when I was a freshman the upperclassmen included me.”