It’s 2:30.  Students are sitting in class anxiously awaiting the end of the day at 2:37.  

But for one group of girls the day is far from over.  

When the bell finally rings, and students rush out the doors to go home, sprinting to their cars or buses to avoid being in the cold for so long, this group of girls prepares to face the cold head on.

Homestead’s Winter Running Club, made up of girls from freshman to senior year, meets six times a week, every week, no matter how cold or snowy.  

They call themselves ‘The Winter Warriors.’

The girls, led by their seniors, bundle up each day to run up to 50 miles a week and prepare for their spring sports, which for the majority of them is track.  This means long runs, hill workouts, track workouts, weight room, and more.  

“I think that my want to be successful is what has inspired me to run. I really want to be able to run faster one day. I just want to get better and improve myself as an athlete,” Ava Wojnowski, sophomore, said.  

But it’s not all hard work.  

Running together year round has brought these girls very close. “Running brings people together in ways you wouldn’t expect… You kinda bond over how hard everything is sometimes,” Wojnowski said.  

For some of the girls, these friendships are what has encouraged them to do Winter Running to begin with.

“I decided to do Winter Running just to stay with the team and stay in shape,” Taylor Apel, freshman, said.

Since Winter Running is a club, and not a team, attendance is optional, and the girls come when they can, but Zanelle Willemse, senior leader, has noticed a bigger group than usual, with about 15 different girls who filter in and out each day.  

“This winter we have a good group, a solid group, bigger than we had last year which is really nice,” Willemse said.  

Since it can get dangerously cold, the girls make sure to keep themselves safe by bringing layers and knowing when it is just too cold to be outside.   

“If it’s really windy or icy I run inside because it’s not worth running outside and getting hurt when I can just do something inside,” Abbie Ravanelli, freshman, said.

Willemse always makes sure that she packs:

Long socks

Thick leggings

Two or three long sleeved shirts

Ear warmers

A face mask

Gloves

And a jacket.

The team is hoping that all of their miles in the snow will pay off this spring.  

“[This track season] I would really like to get PRs in all of my events and a state qualification would be prime,” Willemse said.