Madison’s Caitlin Morris tops local finishers in 33rd Cotton Row Run
Thousands of runners and supporters lined the streets of downtown Huntsville marking a Memorial Day tradition. The Cotton Row Run has been the premiere Memorial Day running event in the south since its inception in 1979.
To commemorate the nation’s celebration of Memorial Day, they heard inspirational messages and American flags lined Clinton Street near the start finish line.
Music blared from a boombox and spectators cheered on the runners as they neared the finish line. That was the scene as Madison resident Caitlin Morris ran through downtown Huntsville in the Mercedes-Benz Cotton Row 10K run early on Memorial Day.
The kindergarten teacher at Legacy Elementary School covered the 6.2 miles in 38:52 to place 48th overall in the field of more that 2500 runners. Doing the math, that is 6 minute 20 second miles for the former distance runner at UA Huntsville. Considering she fought through a blister on the back of her foot she was pleased with her time after the race.
“I’ve never gone under 38 minutes so anything in the 38 minute is good for me,” Morris said after the race.
“It was a tough race. The heat was something to contend with,” Morris said. “It was very warm. The course is always challenging whether it is 85 degrees or 65 degrees.”
She came in just out of the money with an eighth place finish overall among female runners. The top seven receive prize money and Morris missed that mark by 47 seconds. She did however retain her distinction of being the top local female finisher. The only other runner from Alabama in the top 10 was Lori Strand of Birmingham who finished fifth.
Despite the demands of being a teacher, Morris still trains daily to prepare for races like the Cotton Row Run.
“I run in the mornings. I get up at 4:15 and I run outside or on our treadmill every morning. I do about 8 miles every day. On weekends I have the luxury of sleeping to about 6:30,” Morris said.
After the race the running was far from over for Morris. She led a group of about 20 elementary students from Legacy in the 5K Fun Run.
“We have special shirts for them and some of the younger ones are going to run the 1 mile,” said Morris who leads the school’s running club composed of 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.
“I love running. I love teaching my students about running. I started the club so I could still be in running and teach kids the importance of staying in shape and physical fitness and just how much fun this can be.”
Formerly Caitlin Heider, she grew up in Atlanta and came to this area on a cross country and track scholarship at UA Huntsville. She earned First Team All-GSC honors in 2005 at the Gulf South Conference Women’s Cross-Country Championship.
She also competed in the NCAA Championships in the 10,000 meters.
Runners typically are at their peak performance in their mid to late 20’s experts say.
At 27, Morris said that she is still training a lot. She also got married in October 2010.
Her husband played soccer at UA Huntsville.
“I’m just enjoying that newlywed stage of life. I’m trying to get him to run but he didn’t run today.”
On the men’s side, two Madison runners finished in the top ten. Josh Whitehead finished with a time of 32:14 and Brandon York finished at 32:46 good for 9th and 10th respectively.
York ran track and cross country at UA Huntsville where he was teammates with Caitlyn Morris.
