Hilton Head Monthly Voice Voice of the Lowcountry 
Last year, when runner Sarah Cooke showed up at the starting line of the 3K event for 9- and 10-year-olds at the state’s Junior Olympics in Charleston, she thought she was way out of her league. There were close to 60 girls there, all attached to running teams and wearing matching uniforms, and all stretching and chatting in small clusters.
When Hilton Head Island resident Amanda Walton laces up her running shoes and hits the pavement with a group of area girls, she’s doing more than taking those girls for a run. She’s teaching them about friendship, self-worth, body image and a lot more.
If you look in the state high school record books for the fastest 5K cross-country runner, you’ll see David Adams’ name next to a blistering 14:37.
“I broke a state record that stood for 11 years before I broke it,” he said. When you consider that his record has now stood for 15 years, you realize what an impressive runner Adams was back in the day. In fact, he nearly beat the state record in the 2-mile but missed it by a single second. The record holder for that was the same guy he beat for the 5K record.
The Lowcountry offers the perfect combination for pavement pounders: Flat, friendly and beautiful“If you want to become the best runner you can be, start now. Don't spend the rest of your life wondering if you can do it."
— Priscilla Welch, master marathon great
It all starts with running few a steps a couple times a week, then a few more the following week and the week after that, and so on.
Keep taking those steps, and soon you too will be a runner and join the ever-growing legion of runners across the country.
Fortunately, we’re standing in one of the best places to run: It’s flat, beautiful, covered with miles of trails and warm enough for year-round running.
Former Hilton Head Christian Academy football star Caleb Lewis has accepted an offer to play for Louisiana State University as a preferred walk-on. Lewis, the son of former HHCA football coach Tommy Lewis, was a two-year starter for the Eagles before he moved with his family to Victory Christian in Lakeland, Florida, where his father was a coach.
HOSTING CAMP AT USCB
Mia Hamm headlines group of former U.S. Women’s National Team members coming to the Lowcountry
Nearly a decade has passed since Mia Hamm retired from competitive soccer, hanging up the cleats that carried arguably the most famous American soccer player of all time to a 17-year career with the U.S. Women's National Team that included two Women's World Cup titles and two Olympic gold medals.
First Tee of the Lowcountry introduces kids to golf through educational programs
Golf needs an influx of new participants who could provide positive forward momentum for the sport. Children need a safe and welcoming environment to play, exposure to positive social and life skills and time spent exercising outside instead of playing online inside.
While it seems like a perfect match of needs and benefits, for a number of reasons golf and juniors haven’t connected the way one might think they should. Chief among those reasons has been a lack of exposure and affordable access to the game for middleclass and less-advantaged children, who have tended to flock more to traditional team sports such as football and soccer that are easier to play and pay for.
You’re on the tee box at Port Royal Golf Club dressed in loose-fitting clothing and athletic sneakers when you take a running start and kick your soccer ball as far and straight as you can down the fairway.
by Chris Katon
Photos by Jack Davis
The 12,000-Acre Forest Preserve at Spring Island has Served as a Benchmark for Eco-Managed Communities in the Lowcountry for Nearly 25 YearsManaged by the Spring Island Trust, the exclusive Okatie resort was the first nature-based community in the United States. It has been used as a model locally by the developers of Palmetto Bluff and a growing number of other sustainable developments across the country.
The view of the island from horseback is simply stunning. Near the marsh, reed grass rustles gently in the breeze. Thousands of shore birds are gathered here to fish and forage at low tide. As we enter the forest the wind brings scents of jasmine and honeysuckle.
BOONE, N.C.
Join me as I travel from Hilton Head Island to the mountains of North Carolina for a weekend of single-track riding at Rocky Knob Mountain Bike Park.
Rocky Knob is a 185-acre park in Boone, N.C. Last year Watauga County, in partnership with the Watauga County Tourism Development Authority, received a $500,000 grant from the North Carolina Parks and Recreation Trust Fund to assist with the acquisition and development for Rocky Knob Park.
