PORT TOWNSEND — Brittany Grant has a lot of interests.
The Port Townsend junior sails, mountain bikes, snowboards and, of course, runs. The one thing the cross country standout doesn’t do: lounge around the house.
“I like to keep busy,” the honors student said. “I can’t stand just sitting.”
For the last three years, Grant has steadily transformed herself into one of the premiere runners in the Olympic League and on the Peninsula largely because of that compulsion.
This fall, she was the top area girls runner at the Salt Creek Invitational and the Olympic League meet.
She also put up the best 5-kilometer district time (20 minutes, 40.4 seconds) of any Peninsula girl on the way to her third straight state appearance.
“Britz definitely set the bar for the rest of the team by leading our core work three days a week and by her consistent, positive work ethic,” Port Townsend coach Jeni Little said.
“Britz is usually the first to arrive at practice, eager to get started.”
Grant often runs five or six times a week, logging five-milers here and three-milers there.
Sometimes, when she wants to go into Port Townsend from her Middle Point home 5 miles west of town, she just throws on some shoes and starts running.
Even on cold, rainy November days — like the ones that have been so common recently — Grant still finds a way to get outside and hit the trails.
“I don’t know, I guess I’m just addicted to it,” Grant said while lamenting one of her latest forays into the bitter cold.
The longtime Port Townsend resident said she fell in love with the sport from the start.
She started running for the Blue Heron Middle School cross country team in seventh grade and immediately won her first race.
She’s been hooked ever since.
“It’s just so much fun,” Grant said. “I love being able to put on shoes and go wherever. You don’t need money to run. You just need shoes.”
That isn’t the only way Grant likes to travel.
Apart from mountain and road biking, she also enjoys sailing and has her own 14-foot Laser Radial.
She was a member of the Port Townsend High School sailing team and also helps teach classes at the Northwest Maritime Center.
None of that trumps running, however.
Grant said she plans to log even more in her quest to become one of the state’s elite.
If that translates into a spot on a college cross country team after her senior year, that’s just fine by her.
“I guess my goal is to get better,” Grant said. “If you always try to get better, you don’t have a place you need to stop.”
For Grant, stopping is never an option.
________
Sports reporter Matt Schubert can be reached at 360-417-3526 or at matt.schubert@peninsuladailynews.com.
