This week, two Monroe County athletes approach the end of not just their prep running career, but a journey that began long before they stepped into the halls of their respective schools.
Like most long distance runners, Key West’s Caylaa Makimaa and Marathon’s Vance Bursa are driven, but anyone who has followed their stories over the past few seasons can attest that there is something special about the pair. Their similarities are striking and yet each has forged their own path leading up to, perhaps, the most exciting race of their lives.
After her parents got her hooked by running the local 5K races with her, Makimaa was enamored with the sport. “My parents inspired me to become a distance runner. I grew up watching my parents compete in triathlons, half marathons, marathons, Ironmans and more,” she said. “I ran my first 5K with my mom at age 7, and since then I have been hooked.”
Many kids are dragged along with their well-meaning parents, but unlike most sports, distance running is not something one can like half-heartedly if there is any hope for glory. The training is grueling and unforgiving on the body. Makimaa’s training includes strength training, intervals, paced runs, tempo runs, long runs and shorter runs she calls “easy.”
The “easy” runs she describes would leave most of us gasping for breath and praying for the end. Yet Makimaa, despite the challenges to her body, enjoys it all in some form. “I am driven by my love of running because it has always been a place where I feel so free and happy,” she said. “I enjoy going out for my runs. I love the feeling of stress slowly fading away the longer I run and I love the accomplished feeling I get when I finish a hard workout.”
Makimaa said she grew up watching another Lady Conch dominating the sport. “I watched Nicole Matysik,” she said, “and I wanted to grow up to be just like her.” Matysik, too, was a regular on the local 5K circuit and went on to medal at states during her four years with the Conchs. As Matysik was signing to run at Furman University, Makimaa was an impressionable middle schooler, and she could not have chosen a better role model.
Makimaa hopes to continue her running after high school as well, but is undecided on her path. It’s unsurprising that a student-athlete disciplined enough to get this far in cross country is also disciplined in the classroom, and the scholarly Makimaa has a lot of options to weigh. She applied to over 20 schools and was accepted to all.
Regardless of her choice, Makimaa is certain of one thing: Her future will include the sport she loves in some capacity.
“After high school, I plan on pursuing a degree in health science, then getting a master’s in physician assistant studies and entering the medical field post-college,” she said. “I don’t know exactly what running will look like. Still, whether I am granted the opportunity to run collegiately or I join my college’s run club, I will most certainly be spending most of my free time running.”
Last season, Makimaa set two goals, meeting them both. She wanted to make it to the state meet, which she did individually by meeting her second goal, a sub-20-minute 5K at regionals. This season, she has registered a new PR of 19:07 in Marathon a few weeks ago. Her pace was so fast that Coral Shores’ Ali Wheatley and Naima Thomas, her teammate and training partner, also PRed trying to keep up. Makimaa’s drive is good for everyone who takes the line against her, and her positivity is infectious.
After a breakout season last year and the success she has steadily made in this one, she said she “absolutely” feels the pressure as all eyes are on her this postseason.
“This is my last chance to race as a Conch, so I want to soak up every single moment and accomplish as much as possible, and hopefully take home a state medal this year,” she said.
To manage the pressure, Makimaa said she will trust the process, believing in the training that coach Keara McGraw and the Lady Conchs have completed thus far. “I have worked incredibly hard with my team this year and feel confident we all will perform excellently at these championship meets,” she said, adding, “In addition, I am just trying to have fun. With my time on the cross country team coming to a rapid close, I am making as many memories as possible with the amazing family that I have the honor to run with every day.”
Marathon’s Vaclav “Vance” Bursa also took up running at a young age. The name Bursa has been prolific in the local racing community for many years. Vance’s mother, Helena, and his brothers Jakub and Antonin are all extremely talented and typically win their respective age groups when they don’t just win races outright.
Vance began his journey in a similar fashion to Makimaa. “My mom, who is an amazing runner and inspiration, pushed my brothers and I into running, and what inspired me to continue the sport was how rewarding distance running is; the more work you put in, the better you get,” he said.
The Bursa household is certainly a very active one. With three boys, all athletically gifted and competitive, there is never a dull moment. The Bursa brothers grew up in the relative freedom of the woods of Big Pine Key and the surrounding waters where they run, dive, fish and enjoy the outdoors. Both Bursa parents are natives of Czech Republic, and the family spends summers in Europe as well as enjoying adventures to Costa Rica and Mexico. Somehow, between world travels, free diving and even power hang gliding, Bursa has found the time to train and dedicate himself to become one of the fastest runners in school history.
Middle children are often described as independent, easy-going, adaptable, mature and confident. Bursa perfectly epitomizes each of those qualities. Vance has never met a stranger, and his smile and happy-go-lucky attitude quickly draw people in. He is one of the friendliest people you will ever meet, quick to laugh and make others feel welcome and at ease. Yet he is competitive to the core.
“I would really love a sub-16 and hopefully a school record at any of the upcoming races,” he said. “But from now on it’s all about placing and not so much about running for time.”
In order to meet his goals, Bursa will need to strategize his races and figure out a balance between training and rest. Balance might just be the only thing at which Bursa does not excel; he goes 100% all of the time in all that he does, and though this attitude has gotten him far, it has taken a toll on his body. He has battled through injuries to his feet and legs, and a stoic refusal to lay off of training has exacerbated those injuries throughout his career. But Bursa’s adaptability may prove to be a saving grace this season.
“Because I’m so injury-prone, I’ve been doing less miles on the road and a lot of cross training this season,” he said. “I swim 30 minutes or about a mile every morning and I run about 35 miles per week and take a day off on the weekend,” he said. “This is a lot less than last track season, where I ran about 65 miles per week at peak mileage. I also do a bunch of elliptical and stair stepper work at the gym on the weekends to take some running load off of my legs.”
Bursa also feels the pressure of being a repeat state qualifier as a senior. “Running at this level puts a lot of weight on our shoulders because we want to represent our community the best we can,” he said. “I don’t want to let everyone down, especially my teammates, parents and coaches. At these high-level races I’m always thinking about not letting the entire community down by not doing good, and it’s really tough sometimes.”
With the immense pressure he has placed on himself, Bursa has figured out a way to deal with the encumbrance the only way he knows how: with more hard work. “I always tell myself that I will do my absolute best and leave every single bit of strength out there on the course, even if it means collapsing at the finish line,” he said. “Knowing I couldn’t have done any better or run any faster is the only way I can be content with myself.”
Like many high-achieving distance runners, Bursa is also a driven student. He has taken college-level courses for years, amassing well above a 4.6 GPA and numerous options for his future, but his love of entrepreneurship will be the driving force behind his college selection. He has a multitude of ideas for businesses, all of which are compelling and full of ingenuity.
When asked about his proudest accomplishment as a runner, Bursa struggled with an answer. “This is a very tough question because I’m always super proud when any of my boys PR or have a good race,” he said. Bursa’s positivity toward others and his team are infectiously motivating and make him both respected and loved by his teammates.
Despite nagging injuries and the weight of the world on his shoulders, Bursa has everything in his makeup to pull off a top performance in Tallahassee this year. He is accustomed to running through pain, and though the community views him as a shoe-in for a state medal, he is actually a bit of an underdog. This year’s 1A classification is full of talent, and currently 13 runners are seeded in front of him, but that shouldn’t bother Bursa; he likes the fun of the chase and often does best when he’s got someone to hawk down.
If he pulls off the perfect performance at states this season, it won’t be the first time he proved the numbers wrong. As a sophomore, Bursa had what many believed to be zero chance in the 3200 meter race. His personal best in that race was over 20 seconds slower than the runner ranked eighth, the last medal-earning position. Bursa beat his PR by 24 seconds and earned the eighth-place medal to add to his collection.
In 2022, Bursa claimed 10th place at the state meet, clocking in at 16:18. Last season, he hit a wall in the final mile, watching dozens of competitors – and with them, his hopes at a medal – pass him by. He finished a minute slower than the previous year. This season, he has already run three sub-17 races, with his last effort breaking his 2022 state mark, but the flat concrete course he PRed on is vastly different from the course in Tallahassee.
Both Makimaa and Bursa have expressed the pressure they feel to bring pride home to their respective communities, which they both thanked for their encouragement and support these past few years. But regardless of the perceived pressures, the marks the pair, who just happen to be a couple, have made on their schools and Keys-wide are indelible. Like Matysik’s journey shaped Makimaa and Marathon’s rich history of runners did for Bursa, the pair are already making an impact on the sport’s future stars. And despite what the clock reads at the end of the course at Apalachee Regional Park on Nov. 16, their stories are not shaped by a single race or performance. A legacy, after all, is not created in a single day.
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