A good run for Hampton’s 1st Talbot Shuffle

Two girls joined their male counterparts in the culminating race of the inaugural Talbot Shuffle at Hampton’s Fridley Field, and they happened to be sisters.

“Are you going to tell them I beat her?” one of them inquired after pulling away near the finish line, nearly 2 miles after they started.

With regard to the Halls, senior Abby and sophomore Rebekah, the real competition will come during the high school cross country and track seasons. Suffice it to say that each looks as if she’s in prime form to carry on the family running tradition.

Brother Dale Hall, a 2024 graduate, won state 800- and 1,600-meter championships while competing for Hampton. He returned to his home track to help launch what organizers anticipate as an annual event to encourage community support for Talbot runners and encourage running, in general, as a lifelong endeavor.

Oh, and the Liberty University athlete did finish ahead of the pack in the Shuffle’s opening race, 1,600 meters for boys. A race of the same distance for girls followed, and topping off the evening was a 3,200-meter mini-marathon.

The event’s organizers were Heather Dietz, head coach of the Hampton girls cross country and track and field teams, and Lisa Belch, Heather Bonnar, Lindsay Hall and Lisa Wukitch, mothers of Talbot runners.

And yes, Lindsay is the matriarch of the Hall speedsters. Daughter Abby welcomed the Shuffle as an opportunity to warm up prior to opening the interscholastic cross country schedule.

“I’m super-excited for our season this year. We have a really good team,” she said. “Our goal is to do our best, but it would be super-fun if we could get third at WPIALs.”

The Hampton girls took fourth in the Western Pennsylvania championship in 2023.

Meanwhile, the boys won their third straight WPIAL title and capped the season by finishing first in the state. Chris Belch, who will be a senior, finished 11th in the culminating meet to help bolster the Talbots’ team score.

He viewed the Talbot Shuffle as a way to keep the momentum going for distance running.

“It’s team bonding and hopefully getting support from younger kids, too,” he said, while touting the activity as something older folks can enjoy, as well: “It’s definitely a lifestyle, and anybody of any age should be out here.”

Dietz agreed.

“We’ve had 8-year-old and we’ve had 50-year-olds,” she said about first-year Shuffle participants. “Running is a lifelong thing, and that’s huge. And this promotes that.”