By Lindsey Pizzica Rotolo

Scott Shaw set an all-time course record at the Norfolk Five-Mile Road Race this year.

Norfolkian Scott Shaw won the town’s annual Five-Mile Road Race in May with an all-time course record of 28 minutes and 23 seconds. The second place finisher, Brandon LeClair, set the course record last year with a time of 29 minutes and 59 seconds. LeClair beat that time by 44 seconds this year, but still came in a full minute and a half after Shaw. The third place finisher, Jaime Hodgkin, finished at just under 33 minutes.

Just 19 years old, Shaw had only competed in the Norfolk race once before. His 2015 finish was a full two minutes faster than his first performance only a year ago. He goes for two runs every day, regardless of the weather—one before work, at dawn, and another when he returns home in the late afternoon or early evening. Shaw spends the summer months gradually working up to a running goal of 90-miles a week by mid-July. He started the summer training season in mid-May by running 44 miles a week, and had worked up to 65 miles a week by the middle of June.

A rising junior at New England College in Henniker, New Hampshire, Shaw has been on the cross-country and indoor and outdoor track teams since his matriculation there. As a freshman, he earned a coveted spot on the all-time top-ten best list at the school’s annual Mayflower Meet (a five-kilometer race), was named Rookie of the Week for his conference and broke the school record for the steeplechase event (a grueling 3,000 meter race over hurdles and water obstacles).

As a sophomore, Shaw led the cross-country team in eight of ten meets over the fall season and was awarded the school’s Pilgrim Award for his outstanding performance. In the spring, he broke the school record with three of his teammates in the 4 x 800-meter relay and beat his own personal best (and the school record) at the steeplechase event.

A 2013 graduate of Northwestern Regional 7, Shaw started running when he joined the cross-country team his freshman year and describes his start in the sport as “mediocre.” Motivated simply by the desire to improve his times, Shaw worked harder, and ultimately joined the track team so he could train all year.

A Norfolk resident since the age of nine, Shaw can be seen running his hometown’s roads all summer long, but it is not his preference. “My favorite place to run is Collinsville, where it’s flatter.” That said, Shaw acknowledges that all the hills in Norfolk are great for his training.

When asked about his preparation, Shaw revealed that the only exercise he does aside from running are abdominal workouts, and he’s discovered that it’s not so much what he eats, but the timing of meals that is most important for his performance. “I do eat a lot of spinach though,” Shaw says.

As for the Norfolk Five-Mile Road Race, future contenders may want to start training sooner rather than later. “Now I know what to expect out there. I will run that race every year,” Shaw says. And chances are, he will most likely win.

Photo by Dina Shaw