Braden River twins are pure gold on the track

The stench of burnt plastic hung in the air.

On a road trip through California and Idaho, the Marston family found their olfactory senses attacked by the smell. It would not leave them alone, not since Hailey Marston tried to warm her macaroni and cheese in the microwave without checking to see if anything was already there. Unfortunately, a bag of chips was, somehow, shoved in the back, and caught fire.

Hailey’s identical twin sister, Gracie, wouldn’t let her forget it.

Especially not after it happened a second time.

The twins, now freshmen on the Braden River High girls track and field team, said the chip-burning incidents, while funny, also help explain their differences. Hailey, a middle-distance runner, is more impulsive, she said. Gracie, a long-distance runner, called herself more cautious, more willing to feel out situations before diving into them.

Both have found success on the track in their own ways. At the Manatee County Championship March 14 at Manatee High, Hailey won the 400-meter run (1:01.58) and finished second in the 800-meter run (2:30.04), while Gracie won the 1600- (5:28.04) and 3200-meter (11:57.91) runs. The twins also came together for the Pirates’ 4x400 (4:20.13) and 4x800 (10:25.22) relays, winning both.

“It is calming, almost like meditation,” Hailey said of running. “I like that emotional release.”

Gracie nodded in agreement.

The Marston twins — who also have a brother, senior Will Marston, who runs and swims for Braden River — started running two years ago as part of the Sarasota School of Arts and Sciences cross country team. They had a curiosity about running after watching their father, Heath Marston, run 5Ks, joining him as they grew old enough. There was no track team at SSAS, so Braden River is their first taste of different events. Hailey said she prefers the shorter sprints of track, while Gracie likes cross country because the fans see less of your performance, offering a chance for her to hide any mistakes she makes, on the rare occasion she makes one.

They have a touch of sibling ESP, they said, that phenomenon allowing them to know what the other is thinking at a given moment. There is one thing about themselves not even they know, however.

“Our mom (Ashley Marston) won’t tell us who is older,” Gracie said. “She thinks we would fight about it.”

Would they?

“Probably, yeah,” Hailey said. “Then, one of us would be the middle sibling and one of us would be the youngest. It would change things.”

They might fight, but only as all sisters playfully bicker.

The twins do everything together, in and out of school. They run in the same circles and choose each other for group projects. They swim together for a workout easier on the legs than running, even though Gracie hates it. “There’s nothing to look at,” she said.

On family vacations to Costa Rica, they surf together, but even then choose different types of surfing. Hailey likes shortboards and Gracie likes stand-up paddle boards. Sometimes, Gracie said, they need a break from each other, forcing one to get up and walk away, but it is always temporary frustration. The reason they choose different events in their favorite activities? They don’t like to compete directly, wanting each other to find success.

They do push each other, though. Middle school cross country success came quicker to Gracie than Hailey, they said, but through work and repetition, Hailey got faster. During workouts, they strive to “feel bad,” or exert as much of their energy as they can. When the twins got to Braden River and Hailey finished third in the 400 (1:02.68) at the Venice Invitational at Venice High Feb. 15, it caused a realization that she could have similar success in track.

The twins carry such different personalities, Pirates coach Allison Dain said she does not see them as twins anymore. She sees them as individuals, and talented ones at that.

“They are both naturals, you can tell,” Dain said. “It is a true blessing to coach them. And there is one thing they have in common: They are workhorses. They never have a complaint. They give 110% every day, every race. The best is yet to come for them.”