Meet Shawanna White: Governor’s Cup Runner and Olympic Trials Marathon Hopeful
Columbia’s Shawanna White finished the Lexington Medical Center’s Governor’s Cup half marathon on May 16, 2016 with a time of 1:22:55. This was easily the fastest time in her age group, but it also put her as the third overall female about a minute behind a rival SC competitor, Caitlin Batten. Over the years, Shawanna and Caitlin have gone head-to-head in races where the winner was determined by a final sprint to the finish, and both have gotten their share of the victories. Congratulations to both women for a great job at this year’s Governor’s Cup.
Flashback 20 years, Shawanna began running in her sophomore year at D.M. Therrell High School in Atlanta. Shawanna states she started running “because my high school coach saw me in the office one day and asked me to run track. I told him he would have to ask my grandma. She said yes, but only if he brought me home because it would be too late to ride the bus and there was no family car to be used.” The coach agreed and she ran track and cross country in high school with best times of 2:23 in the 800, 5:25 in the 1600, and 12:04 in the 3200.
Shawanna had several scholarship offers and chose Division Two University of West Georgia because it was in Carrollton, Georgia, only about an hour away from her home. Shawanna was all conference in cross country all four years and finished second in her conference in her junior year. She graduated in 2004 from the University of West Georgia with a B.S. in Physical Education.
As it often does, life filled up with work and other duties, leaving Shawanna little time for running. She didn’t run much for about four years, but picked it back up in 2008. “I had forgotten how much I loved to run,” she said. She got serious again with training and racing, averaging 65 miles a week, and her times began to drop quickly.
In 2009 she joined the Atlanta Track Club. “I found I was stronger in the longer distances and began to work toward marathons,” she said. She ran her first marathon in 2011 at the Snickers Marathon in Albany, Georgia. Her second marathon was the Kiawah Island Marathon, where she broke three hours with a 2:55. In 2012, she ran her best marathon time at the City of Oaks Marathon in Raleigh, North Carolina, with a time of 2:52:38. During her years with the Atlanta Track Club, she won the RRCA 7k Regional Championship in 2009 and was the Atlanta Track Club Member of the Year in 2010 and 2012.
Shawanna began to work toward qualifying for the 2016 Olympic Trials in the marathon, which requires a time of 2:45. That dream had to be postponed because of a developing hip issue. The condition was diagnosed as FAI, Femoroacetabular Impingement, and required surgery.
After the May 2013 procedure, Shawanna didn’t run for six months while she healed. When she began to run again, she was even more determined to reach her goals. She worked hard, resetting her Olympic Trials goal for 2020.
After moving to Columbia in July 2014 – “I had lived in Georgia all my life and wanted to experience a new state” – she picked up Skechers as her sponsor and ran the Southern Tennessee Power Classic Marathon. She has since run four marathons, getting stronger and faster each time. Her next goal is to run a 2:50 marathon, which will also set a South Carolina state age group record. She hopes to do that at the Charleston Marathon in January 2017.
Shawanna also aspires to break the South Carolina state 5k record of 17:03 at the Midnight Flight, coming up August 26 in Anderson, or at one of the flatter, faster courses in Charleston in December. “Despite concentrating on marathon training, I have the strength to meet this goal without 5k-specific training,” she said. “I recently ran a local race, the Jail Break 5k, in 17:33.”
Shawanna says she is inspired by many older runners like Linda Somer Smith, who at age 50 ran a 2:37:36 marathon at the Olympic Trials and holds many United States and World distance records for her age group.
“At age 36, I train harder than ever and continue to get stronger,” Shawanna said. “My average weekly runs are 70 to 75 miles. As long as I stay smart, listen to my body and my coach (Orinthal Striggles), and push the envelope, I can reach all of my goals. I feel that I will be ready to qualify for the 2020 Olympics with my possible first chance in the Jacksonville Marathon in December 2017, or possibly in Charleston in January 2018.”
Good luck, Shawanna, in the pursuit of your goals! We look forward to seeing great things from you and hope to see you competing in the 2020 Olympic Trials. Follow Shawanna on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Peachrunner/217360928275 and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/peachrunner26.2/.
