KIDS ON THE RUN

YOUNGSTERS SET WORLD RECORDS IN RUNNING

What started out as a way to spend more time with their military dad has quickly, very quickly, turned into an embarrassment of world records and medals. As it turns out, 7-year-old Lizzy Westrip and her 6-year-old brother, Charlie, are great at running, which they picked up going to the track with their dad.

Since Lizzy entered her first race in April, the dynamic duo has set a combined nine world records in their respective age groups. And we’re not just talking about little fun runs. Charlie holds the world record in the half marathon (2:06:45), while Lizzy holds the record in the 15K (1:22:35).

Meanwhile, their parents, Charles and Holly Westrip, also runners, make sure the kids are eating enough protein and healthy calories, training properly and managing their time between race-hopping and school and other activities.

“The praise, support and encouragement that the kids have received from the running community continue to excite them and make them want to do more,” their mom said. “A lot of times as they are running along, and even after the races, people come up and tell them how awesome they did, giving them high-fives and wanting to take pictures with them. We’ve had people come up and tell them that they were trying to catch up with them the whole race. Some could. Some couldn’t.” Other than running, what do you like to do? Soccer, piano, art, cycling. Baseball, taekwondo, cycling and kayaking.

How did you get into running?

Daddy. We liked to run with him at the park. Daddy runs with us. Did you like running right away? Yes. I liked it more when I won a race. Do you just run races or do you train, too? We train, too. We run a few times a week, plus races. We do practice runs a lot. Do you do a lot of stretches before you run? Yes, we stretch and jog. We do exercises. What is your best time? To check out racing records, visit the Association of Road Racing Statisticians, at www.arrs.net. mile. 6:54 minutes per mile. 7:29 minutes per A lot of grownups would love to run that fast. How do you do it? I really want to do my best so I try to think about working hard and going fast. I train a lot, which makes me stronger.

Your parents have taken you to different races in Alabama, Florida, Virginia and Georgia. Do you like traveling all over to run?

I like to see different places that I have never seen before. I like traveling to different states to run.

What has been your favorite race so far?

The Bascomb Bobcat Boogie 5K (Woodstock). It was my fastest 5K to date with a time of 22:03.

The Halloween Half Marathon (Atlanta). It was fun and a lot of people dressed up in costumes.

You have set a lot of records. Do you think you would run even if you had a snail’s pace? Yes, but I would want to run faster. Yes, but it’s more fun to be fast and win medals.

You run some long races. What do you think about when you are running?

I like to picture the finish line in my head. Then, when you get close to the finish, you can hear the music and people cheering.

I think about running fast to get a medal. And also about the rewards like cheeseburgers and Blizzards from Dairy Queen that our parents get us when we have tried our best. What is the best thing about running? I like winning. It’s fun to win medals and run with daddy. I like to beat world record times. Do you have any other running goals? I want to do a marathon. I want to try for a world record in a 15K and do a marathon. Are you competitive with each other? Yes! I want to beat my brother every time. I like to try to run faster than Lizzy.

$114,963 earmarked for grills, park amenities

Cherokee County will spend $114,963 for picnic tables, grills and other amenities for the new Veteran’s and Patriot’s parks.

The Board of Commissioners recently approved the bid submitted by Swartz Associates of Naples, Fla., the lowest of five, to provide the amenities.

Veteran’s Park will get nine picnic tables, 22 square tables, 48 trash receptacles, 48 benches, three single park grills, three double park grills, 10 three-row bleachers, 12 aluminum player benches, six pet waste stations, and eight four-foot court benches.

The park, with 149 acres, is being built at 7261 Cumming Highway, Canton. It will have an artificial turf athletic field, two natural grass athletic fields, two tennis courts, two pickleball court, a playground, skate park, walking paths, concessions and restrooms.

Patriot’s Park will get five picnic tables, 12 square tables, 42 trash receptacles, 22 benches, one single park grill, one double park grill, eight three-row bleachers, two four-row bleachers, six aluminum player benches, and nine pet waste stations.

The 33-acre park is being constructed at 1485 Kellogg Creek Road, Woodstock. Plans call for an artificial turf adaptive use baseball/softball diamond, two natural grass baseball/softball diamonds, two fenced off-leash dog parks, a playground, walking path, concessions and restrooms.

Information: www.crpa.net/ parks/

Norfolk Southern to repair railroad crossing

Norfolk Southern will close the railroad crossing at State Route 120/West Lawrenceville St., near Pure Taqueria, at 5 a.m. until late in the evening Jan. 10 for maintenance and repair work. No vehicular traffic will be permitted to cross the tracks.

Georgia DOT and Norfolk Southern are erecting detour signs to alert motorists accordingly. The city is suggesting Brock Road as a suitable detour for cars and small trucks.

Large vehicles, like tractor-trailers, will need to divert to Rogers Bridge Road.

Callaway Building is getting ‘deconstructed’

Decatur’s 40-year-old Callaway Building is getting “deconstructed” story by story, according to Assistant City Manager Lyn Menne, who adds the structure isn’t large enough for actual implosion.

Decatur bought the five-acre Callaway property from DeKalb County several years ago for roughly $5 million, than sold it to Cousins Properties in August. The city had been working to acquire the Callaway site since 2003. The last remaining DeKalb employees vacated the building in April.

Cousins’ planned mixed-use development for the site includes 329 apartments and a 40,000 square foot, four-story structure, with a ground floor for some retail and the upper three stories for office only.

For now the construction timeline is vague. In August Cousins received a letter from DeKalb County saying the county sewer system lacks adequate capacity for theirs and a number of other projects. As it stands Cousins will have to pay for both sewer upgrades and a tap fee of approximately $1,700 per unit to connect to the DeKalb County sewer.

CONTRIBUTED Seven-year-old Lizzy Westrip and her 6-year-old brother, Charlie, celebrate their performance in a 4-mile run in Fairfax, Virginia, on New Year’s Eve.