Competitive edge: Gardner's Megan Bettez following in mom's distance running footsteps

This winter, someone with a familiar name was finding the Gardner High track records. More remarkably, though, is the fact that this runner is not yet in the high school. An eighth-grader at Gardner Middle School, Megan Bettez broke into the Gardner High records with her speedy 2-mile time, reaching the top five in program history with a 2-mile time of 11:56.64. And who did she pass on the program leaderboard? That would be Tina Bettez - Megan’s mother.

They both were coached by Ken Pelletier, who has had the unique opportunity of watching the mother and daughter throughout their high school running careers, following a very similar trajectory.

“It kind of dates me because I coached her mother way back then and then to have the daughter come up and break her record in 2024, and that was back in ‘94-’95, tells you how long I’ve been around,” Pelletier laughed. “It’s something that doesn’t happen very often, you don’t see mother-daughter relationships where they are this close in the same sport and they have the fifth- and sixth-fastest times in the school history.”

In 1993, Tina broke the Gardner High 2-mile record with a time of 12:05.2. The standing record was 12:20. Since then, five other girls have beaten the record, moving into the sub-12 realm. Now Megan has the bragging rights to say she crushed her mother’s record, something she had in the back of her mind knowing she was capable of getting close to that time.

“We have a competitive thing," Tina said. "When she was little if I did burpees she would always do more than me. I’d do pull-ups, she’d always do more than me so I knew if I said something to her, I knew she’d beat my time. Sure enough, the minute I said it to her, she had this look on her face and she finished [the race] and broke it.”

While it could be shocking to see such early success from Megan in her career, knowing her background makes it less of a surprise. Tina and her husband, Mark, who is also a Gardner High alum, have created an active and involved lifestyle with their family from the time Bradley, Tina’s son, and Megan were young.

It is not limited to the track or running trails. The Bettezes completed the lofty challenge of hiking all 48 4,000-foot mountains in New Hampshire. They compete in Spartan races together – a race of varying distances that includes obstacles along the route – and the family’s next endeavor is ultramarathons, racing a distance longer than a marathon.

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“I would wake up early in the morning, [Bradley] would come out and run with me. [Megan] occasionally would come, very rarely and then slowly I’d always ask and she would usually say no and sometimes all of a sudden I’d look behind me and it’d be her catching up to me,” Tina said. “Even when I was pregnant with both of them, I ran, so I don’t know if that was the start of it.”

It’s clear why Megan has excelled in the high school running scene before even reaching high school.

Her family’s hobby is a big factor in Megan becoming a prolific runner, but further than that she has been able to keep a good outlook mentally in a sport where so much of the competition comes down to one's mind.

Megan has performed well in running events, but is not limiting herself to just that. This spring season, she also enjoys the triple jump and even competed in the 400 meter hurdles for the first time – and won.

“I was my worst critic, so I see her in a really good spot so her trying new things is great, you never know, she might be super good and we don’t know,” Tina said.

Tina had her own experience of being a young runner finding success. As a freshman, she was the only runner from Gardner, male or female, to go to states during cross-country season. That spring, she broke the 2-mile record for the first time before beating her own record a few times throughout her career.

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“The joke between us right now is she hasn’t beaten my mile time yet, and I joke with her, I was like, ‘I wasn’t a miler, I was a 2-miler but you beat my 2-mile time so you have to really prove you’re better than me by beating me in the mile,’” Tina said with a laugh.

Megan has that goal in her mind, too, and time will tell if she is able to break that record. However, it is not the only thing she is hoping to achieve in the coming years. On top of running, she wants to continue to challenge herself in other events and see how far she can get in postseason meets.

“Lowering my mile times a lot and maybe getting better at pole vault and triple jump, but I can only do that in outdoor so I don’t have as much time to practice it,” Megan said of her goals. “Continue to go to Nationals and do well once I get to high school.”

It’s safe to say that running is in Megan’s blood.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Competitive edge: Gardner's Megan Bettez following in mom's distance running footsteps