The famous American runner Steve Prefontaine once said, “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

No one can accuse local runner Natalia Hawthorn of sacrificing anything except time — from her personal bests.

It may be premature to name the Bracebridge teen a future Olympian for the 2012 London Games, but with her progressive results anything is possible.

At only 13 years old, she finished ninth in the 17 and under category, besting competitors as many as four years her senior at the Canadian Youth Track & Field Championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Aug. 8-10.

“I was really pleased with it and got a personal best by five seconds,” she said.

Although Hawthorn was leading her heat with 50 metres to go and was passed, it was still a great feeling to finish the 1,500-metre event with a personal best time of 4:41.42.

The challenge of the stronger and older competitors seemed to really drive Hawthorn toward breaking through to new achievements, she said.

She was second out of her five teammates from her Newmarket Huskies club team.

The accomplishment was a nice way to cap off the past several months, a time that included wins at the XC Ontario Track and Field Association and the Minor Track and Field Association Championship.

Nevertheless, Hawthorn said she had modest expectations entering the recent youth championships.

“With the Canadian Youth, it was for the experience of going,” she said. “I wasn’t expecting a medal or anything. The experience was great. I’m sure it will help me in the future.”

Next year she hopes to compete in the 15 and under division to perhaps medal in the event. But she knows she must win the series of Royal Canadian Legion races that lead to the youth championships.

After three years of club running, this young competitor is making strides, beating her personal best time by 21 seconds in the 1,500-metre distance this year.

She loves the middle-distance events the best because of the tactics involved.

“It’s a fast race, but you have time to get a strategy (on) how to run,” she said. “For the 3,000 metre it is really mental.”

Her first competitive race was at a provincial competition when she was eight.

She didn’t know it, but her father entered her into a field of competitors that were as much as two years older. She ended with a 19th placing.

“I’ve always liked running as a child. I did all the school races,” she said.

This year the up-and-comer has started running the 800-metre distances. She qualified for the 800 metre at the youth championships, but was off her personal best time.

Still, her personal best times this season in the 800 metre and the 1,500 metre were only one second within the Ontario Bantam record.

Just over a year ago Hawthorn competed in the 3,000-metre distance at the Ontario Track and Field Association Midget Championships and finished sixth with a time of 10:59.45. The time was good enough for a fifth all-time in Ontario ranking for 12-year-olds.

The middle-distance runner has her sights set on the upcoming cross-country Canadian Junior Championships.

She might be setting the trails afire, but she is still a teenager with a tendency to enjoy junk food on occasion. She is, however, unlikely to indulge at home, where both of her parents enjoy a healthy diet and are physically active.

Besides running, the Bracebridge teen likes a variety of activities such as hip-hop and lyrical dance, playing piano, playing soccer for the Bracebridge Storm, and cross-country skiing.

Hawthorn joined the Huskies in the middle of the cross-country running season during early autumn last year.

Before joining the club she was regularly training with her father, who is a world-class Nordic skier.

Among her heroes are legendary runner Prefontaine and Jim Ryun, the first prep-miler to break the four-minute mile. Hawthorn met Ryun in person when she attended his running camp in the United States recently.

Although her heroes were driven to be the best in the world, Hawthorn just wants to be the best that she can be. If she merely does that, who knows where she’ll end up?