In March 2023, longtime Pine Tree Camper, Shane, was among nearly 25,000 runners who took to the streets for the New York City Half Marathon. He had one goal in mind: To show other athletes with autism what they can accomplish.
“I accomplished that race by believing in myself,” Shane said. “I trained by doing a lot of distance runs. All I had to do was push through and the time would eventually come.”
This premiere road race covered 13.1 miles from Brooklyn to the heart of Manhattan. Shane finished this challenging race in 01:44:08, well below the national average of 02:02:00 for men.
“I wanted to represent the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation in the race. I was chosen by the foundation to be a Flutie Fellow, which is an ambassador role,” he continued.
He took that role all the way to the Today Show the day after the race.
“I paraded the most epic poster ever and with my long arms reaching to the sky, I made it onto TV.”
His journey to the NYC Half Marathon began with the Flutie 5K at Pine Tree Camp in the fall of 2022. That’s when he met the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation and, soon after, was selected to become a Flutie Fellow, enabling him to represent the foundation in the NYC Half Marathon.
He is honored to have finished third at the Flutie 5K at Pine Tree Camp, but the thing he’s most proud of from that race is winning the Most Spirited / Enthusiastic Award.
“My favorite part of the Flutie 5k is when I’m getting all warmed up. I’m the hype man getting everyone psyched up and ready to race.”
Since the NYC Half Marathon, Shane has challenged himself to compete in triathlons in Maine, Georgia and Connecticut, including an IronMan 70.3.
“It was hard. Especially pedaling my bike up the hills.”
In each race, he finished strong; shaving a bit more off his finish time at every event as a result of his focused training.
After being a Pine Tree Camper for over a decade, last summer, at age 18, Shane came to work at camp through the Leadership in Training Program.
“Leading activities at camp allowed me to build extra confidence in my leadership abilities and made me feel safer trying to lead in new situations,” he said.
His experience working at camp has set him on a path for his career. This fall, he’ll begin his freshman year at college studying recreation management.
“Woo hoo!” and “Oh yeah!” are his trademarks at Pine Tree Camp and we’re certain he will inspire many others to strive for excellence and achieve their personal best at college and beyond.
Head to the Pine Tree Camp Facebook page to see more race and triathlon photos of Shane.
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The 2023 Flutie 5K at Pine Tree Camp is Saturday, October 21. The route takes runners, walkers and wheelchair rollers on fully accessible nature trails through the woods, along the waterfront, and around many special places where overnight summer camp memories have been made since 1945. Learn more and register at this link.