The July 4, 2017 holiday weekend will be remembered in Cazenovia for the major rain and wind storm that swept through the region, causing massive damage to trees and homes, and forcing the cancellation of multiple local holiday weekend events. But it will also be remembered for an athletic achievement: A 10-year-old runner from California set a world record at the Cazenovia July 4 Foot Race.
Andrew Burr, of El Dorado Hills, Calif., was in Upstate New York visiting his grandparents and decided to run in the 10-mile July 4 Foot Race in Cazenovia — and he ended up running the fastest-ever officially recognized 10-mile race run by a 10-year-old.
According to Andrew’s father, Jeremy Burr, who grew up near Cazenovia, Andrew finished the July 4 race in a record time of 1:09:53, which is an average pace of faster than 7:00 per mile; his pace got quicker as the race went on, with Andrew running his last two miles at a pace in the 6:40s.
He beat the previous world record by more than one minute and 30 seconds.
The race was run on a course certified by USA Track and Field (USATF) and his world record was certified by the Association of Road Racing Statisticians (arrs.net/SA_R10M.htm), which maintains databases of race world records at distances ranging from 3,000 meters to the marathon.
Andrew began running races when he was 5 years old, and has since run dozens of races ranging in distance from 5K to half-marathon.
In his first-ever cross country season last year, he went to Cross Country Nationals in Evansville, Ind., and ran at a 6:07 per mile average pace to place 13th in his age group on a 3k course while running in a field of over 250 competitors drawn from all over the country, said Jeremy.
Andrew ran his world record 10-mile race in New York just two days after a weekend of winning multiple races during the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) West Coast National Track & Field Championships in Reno, Nev.; his performance in these races qualified Andrew to compete in four track events (3,000 meters, 1,500 meters and 800 meters, and as a member of the Buffalo Chips 4×800 meter relay team) at the AAU Junior Olympic Games being held later this month near Detroit, Mich.
Andrew decided to run in the Cazenovia July 4 Foot Race as part of his regular training. According to Jeremy, Andrew’s coach, Linda Frazier, head coach of the Buffalo Chips youth running team, had encouraged members of Andrew’s running team to run the annual July 4 five-miler in El Dorado Hills. Since Andrew was in Upstate New York and could not run the file-miler at home, he asked if he could instead run the Caz 10-mile race on July 4.
Andrew, who will be entering fifth grade at Sacramento Country Day School this fall, enjoys road races and track meets, while his favorite running events are cross country meets and trail races, according to his father. In addition to running, Andrew plays competitive soccer with the USA Stars Academy, and enjoys competing in youth triathlons.
“Cazenovia is beautiful – we hope to be back soon!” Jeremy said.
