WAHS Represents at the Wattey
Credit: C. Tyler Corvin
December 12, 2014
Kelly Watt, an Albemarle High School graduate and future William and Mary student and athlete, was just 18 years old when his life tragically came to an end in 2005 after experiencing heat stroke complications three days after attempting to complete an eight mile run on one of the hottest days of the summer. During his four year cross country and track career at Albemarle, he had become the number one runner on the team, a co-captain, and the fastest cross country distance runner in central Virginia.
He also loved the written word and sports journalism, and pursued this passion by starting his own magazine, Sports Weekly, when he was just 12 years old. He later became the Sports Editor for Albemarle’s newspaper, The Revolution, wrote for the local running website, www.milestat.com, and interned at The Hook, soon becoming a journalist there. He managed to touch more people’s lives in a day than most people do in years, inspiring everyone around him with his compassion, humbleness, drive, and determination in everything he did. It was obvious that Kelly was going places in life.
A hundred people came out one morning that November for a two mile memorial race held in honor of Kelly at his favorite course, Panorama Farms. It’s been nine years since then, and even though he isn’t physically with us anymore, he is still an inspiration to all. Now over 200 people partake in the race to celebrate his short but full life. There is a feeling of unity at this race as family, friends, students, and alumni from a handful of local schools come together and run side by side with only one motive; to honor Kelly.
The boys and girls Cross Country Teams have made it a tradition to run the race every year. Western’s very own Annie Taylor was the first female finisher this year with Chance Masloff crossing the finish line just one second behind her. Charlie Hurt, an alumni of WAHS, won the race with a speedy time of 10:05. Senior runner Caitlin Dutta who has participated in the event for the past four years said, “I love running the Kelly Watt because it’s a fun race on a nice course with nice people for a nice cause.”
