BENTON'S BRODY HUTCHISON COMES THROUGH THE LINE AT THE TURKEY TROT ON THURSDAY
Hundreds of runners participated in Sportspectrum's annual Turkey Trot along the banks of the Red River in Shreveport on Thursday. One runner in particular had much to be thankful for--Benton senior Brody Hutchison.
Hutchison ran in two races to begin his senior. First, it was the Bronco Stampede in Mckinney, Texas where he finished the 5K with a time of 16:53. He followed that up with a No.14 finish at Parkway's Border Dash.
While those times weren't close to his personal record of 15:11 at the Benton Classic during his junior year, he continued to push through and competed at the St. Joseph's Invitational in Baton Rouge.
"During the St. Joseph's Meet, I was feeling way more tired than normal," Hutchison said. "I was like a quarter of a mile in and I was like 'this is not normal.' My legs were dead. I was like 'I really can't finish the race.' Halfway through the race I was getting passed by everybody and I dropped out. I went to the doctor the next day and that's when I found out what I had."
Doctor's told Hutchison that he had Mononucleosis on top of Walking Pneumonia, which the doctors told Hutchison he had since the beginning of the season.
It would sideline him for the remainder of his senior high school cross country season--one which had so much promise as Hutchison came into after being ranked the No. 6 all-time junior in North Louisiana history. And while he continued to be around the team and cheering them, it just wasn't the same as being out there on the course and doing what he loves to do-compete.
"It was tough," Hutchison said. "I mean it was fun because I went to District, Regionals, and State and watched my teammates. They did really well. It does suck senior year putting in all of the work and not being able to run my last state meet, regional meet, district meet. All of that does suck, but I think it's only going to push me for track."
As far as his race on Thanksgiving morning?
It felt good," Hutchison said. " It's my first race back after being sick. It's good to just get out there and run. I'm very thankful."
While the cross country season did not go as planned, he feels the experience will only motivate him to push even harder-and enjoy the process as he turns his attention to the track.
"I still have stuff to prove," Hutchison said. "I'm just going to put it all there on the track and see what happens."