WILTON — Ten-year-old Forrest Raymond is raising money to compete at the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Dec. 10 at Texas A & M University.
As of Wednesday, he had raised about $1,700 of the $3,000 needed to help with airfare, hotels, race registration fee and other costs.
Twin brothers Miles Raymond, left, and Forrest Raymond, 10, of Wilton, love long-distance running. Forrest is raising money to compete in the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships on Dec. 10 at Texas A & M University in College Station, Texas. Donna M. Perry/Sun Journal
“I like to run road races,” he said. “I have never really been a sprinter. I mostly like the competition.”
He loves to run cross country races, track and local road races with his twin brother, Miles. The fifth graders at Cascade Brook School in Farmington both like long-distance running.
Their mother, Robyn Raymond of Wilton, signed them up for track last year.
The brothers qualified for Region 1 Junior Olympic Cross Country race in November after Forrest came in second and Miles came in third at a state competition.
At the regional race, which includes the New England states and New York, Forrest covered the 3K course in 12:36 minutes and placed 14th, earning a spot in the National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships at the university in College Station, Texas.
Forrest Raymond, 10, of Wilton competes in November in a cross country race at Noble High School in Berwick. He is raising money to compete at the National Junior Olympic Cross County Championships in Texas on Dec. 10. Submitted photo
Miles ran the course in 13:19 minutes and placed 37th, missing the cutoff of the top 30 to progress to nationals, his mother said.
Forrest will compete in 9 and 10 age group as an individual without sponsors. His goal is to make the top 30.
“I usually follow the person ahead of me so I don’t get lost,” he said. “I pace myself. But when I see the finishing line I sometimes sprint to do it in a faster time.”
“It makes me feel accomplished when I get a good time,” he said.
He does some stretching before running but usually doesn’t do too much to stay in shape, he said.
“Sometimes we go jogging with mom and dad,” Forrest said.
His father, Isaac Raymond, lives in Farmington.
The boys usually dress in similar clothing for races but wear different colored racing spikes to make it easier for people to tell them apart; Forrest in highlighter yellow and Miles in bright orange.
Forrest’s other interests are animals; he has 14 chickens, a goldendoodle named Samus, and a golden retriever named Hobbes.
Their mother set up a Gofundme page for donations to help him get to the nationals. He is also collecting bottles and cans, and Melodie Zale of Norm’s Redemption Center on Main Street in Wilton has set up a tab to keep track of bottles and cans donated for him.
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