Cara Black  I grew up in Santa Barbara running everywhere as a kid. I ran track in Jr. High School ranking 1st in the sprints. During one track meet I was asked to run the 800 which I did for the first time and set a city record.

In 9th grade we made a trip to a huge track meet in College of the Canyons where I ran against a large field of girls, and I was beat handily. I figured at that point I didn’t have a future in sprinting and gave up track all together. Since that time, I have stayed fit playing squash, swimming, doing triathlons, participating in 5 and 10 K’s, and weight training.

When I turned 50, I found out about master’s Track and figured I should pick up track again for the fun of it. I found the SC Striders and trained with the wonderful Brenda Steele-Mathews. I competed in a couple of track meets when I decided that I wasn’t ready to spend the weekends by myself while my 2 kids were still at home, and active in club and collegiate soccer. So, I hung up my spikes once again.

Then during the pandemic, I thought it was time to start sprinting again because I love to run fast. I found the Striders again about 1 year ago and started training at the Irvine High School with a wonderful group of people including Jeannie, Brenda, Coleen, Tina, Doug, Keta, and others.

Last year I competed in several track meets in the 60-64 age group with both the USTAF Masters as well as the Senior Games. I participated in the New York USTAF Indoor Championships, the National Senior Games in Fort Lauderdale and some local California meets. I’ve been able to place in all my events and even run faster than some of my younger competitors.

I will take over Membership for the SC Striders starting in January. I want to give back to an organization that has given me so much satisfaction.

I am especially excited that I got my husband, Jeff, to join the SC Striders and start running. He isn’t a sprinter, but he loves to run fast and enjoys the comradery as much as I do. He participated in his first track meet in Santa Barbara and placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in his age group for the 50, 200, and 400. It was especially fun to run with him in Santa Barbara since that is where my start in track began.