TOANO — Isabella Strumke used to complain about running, giving her dad every excuse in the book as to why she couldn’t go out and run with her brothers.
“I started running and I didn’t really like it that much,” Strumke says. “It was not my favorite and I wasn’t very good at it, so I didn’t like it very much.”
Todd, Isabella’s father, recalled watching the Olympics in 1976. He was so moved by what he saw that he went out for a run the following day. That translated into 30 years of daily runs. A former Marine, Todd wanted to pass along some of the knowledge that he learned throughout his years of training.
“Two of the great messages that the Marine Corps taught me was when you think you are going to love something, you end up hating it. But when you think you are going to hate something, you end up loving it. That, and when you think you’ve reached your physical and mental limit, you are not even close. When you come out on the other side and realize that you are fine, now you know that anytime you face adversity, you can say ‘I got this'” Todd says.
Todd did not start with the intention of putting his kids in sanctioned races, but he ultimately decided to sign them up to give them a goal for their training. Isabella, still not completely sold on the idea of running, competed in her first race and placed in the top of the standings.
Things began to change for Strumke as she saw how she measured up against the competition. In 2023, she broke the state record for nine and under in the 5K race with a time of 19:37. She also holds the 8K record at 32:17 and the 10K record at 40:37. Her age grade results often place her in the world-class runner category.
When running, Isabella says that she doesn’t think, she just knows what she needs to do, though, she admits that when she’s running hard, the Rocky theme comes to mind.
“I don’t really think while I’m running, I just run for the fun of it,” Isabella says.
Running four days a week, Isabella also forged a relationship with Tabb High School cross country coach Emily Honeycutt. As the Strumke’s homeschool their children, Isabella can’t participate in public school sports, but Honeycutt has taken it upon herself to invite Isabella to run with the team in an unofficial capacity.
While running is a huge part of Strumke’s life, wrestling also takes up much of her time. In 2023, Isabella wrestled her way to Virginia State Champion. Todd helps coach the team, where Isabella is just like one of the boys.
“I started wrestling when I was in second grade, and I was actually pretty good at it. Last year, I took first in the girls for the state championship. My brothers have been wrestling for longer than me and they help make me better because I’ll sometimes wrestle with them,” Isabella said.
In late February, Strumke defended her title and is now a two-time state wrestling champion.
For Isabella, running and wrestling are a family affair. Older brother Jack can recite back all her times and titles and dad Todd is the unofficial Colonial Road Runners photographer. She even loves sharing her medals with her siblings.
“I love watching her run because, to me, she has such a carefree stride. It totally matches her personality. She’s not the fastest person around, but she can run at that steady pace and it looks effortless. It’s really a thing of beauty to watch her run. I’ve said before, if she is defined by her running ability, her mother and I failed. She is not going to be defined by her running ability by any stretch of the imagination. And I’m not failing,” Todd says.
Only 10 years old, Strumke has her eyes on being named the 2024 Colonial Road Runners Runner of the Year and eventually the Olympic Games.
Strumke says for kids her age: work hard.
“Work hard at it and have fun when you are doing what you are doing. If not, you aren’t going to like it if you aren’t having fun at the end of the day. If you want to be good at it, you have to work hard.”
