We will always remember Paul Short 2026 for what it wasn't: The races that never happened for Marist men's and women's cross country, after the Brown Division (among other) races were canceled due to the medical emergency caused by the heat.
But we should also never forget Paul Short 2026 for what it was for our one, solitary athlete who DID race: Senior Rachael Turek, in the women's open race at 10:15a.
We traveled to Paul Short with a relatively small roster -- relative to our past big teams. This is the reality now, the new normal of smaller rosters.
We brought our top squad of men -- seven were scheduled to race -- and our entire women's roster of 13 active runners.
Of those 13, 10 were scheduled to race in the Brown Division and three in the Open. Two of the scheduled Open runners were coming off recent illnesses. We determined earlier in the week that racing at less than 100 percent, in the forecasted shit show of bad weather, made no sense. Instead, they did a workout on the course before the Open races.
That left Rachael as our lone entrant in the Open race -- and, as it turned out, in the entire meet!
Earlier in the week, I gave Rachael the option of not racing solo, instead coming back next Saturday at NJIT with a partial squad. She declined this offer, wanting to race Paul Short and being undaunted by being a one-woman team.
Along with graduate assistant Grace LaCapra, we "huddled" near starting box 21, which Rach "shared" with a large contingent of Roger Williams runners. I joked about our "huddle" and, being the wiseass that I am, said: "Rachael on 3 ... 1-2-3 Rachael!" She was a good sport. Rach is always a good sport.
What Rachael is NOT is a fan of hot-weather running.
Rach loves the cold. She's the one who is stripping off layers BEFORE heading outside for a run in 35-degree weather.
So anyway ... how did our one-woman team do? Rachael did GREAT.
She finished 222nd out of 408 finishers and 20 DNFs in the 6km, running a solid time of 25:03.1. She improved 26 places throughout the race, looked strong ... and yes, she managed the heat quite well.
Most importantly, she set the tone for the rest of the team, a message that the heat could be conquered. It was a message that ultimately never mattered. But Rachael's race mattered -- a lot -- to us, and we are grateful that Rachael Turek is now forever the answer to the following trivia question:
Which Marist athlete is the only runner to have completed a race at the 2026 Paul Short Run?
