Tuesday, June 13, 2017

Walkway races: Sprinter parents shine

He was perhaps the greatest overall sprinter we have had in our men’s track history. But more importantly, Tim Johnson was one of the greatest PEOPLE to ever inhabit our Marist Track world, and now that he is graduated, we will miss him greatly – as we do the entirety of the Class of 2017. So the text from him yesterday, reminding me that he would like a Marist Alumni Racing Team singlet in size Small, made me smile. (To his credit, he also praised the excellent Marist Running performances in the races on Sunday). 

His request for a singlet made me smile, because sprinters usually don’t request MART singlets. It also made me smile because it allowed me to give him good-natured ribbing about how he’ll have to USE that MART singlet in next year’s Walkway 5km race. Remember, 5 kilometers is akin to a marathon for a short sprinter like Tim. But alas, it was easy to poke him on this, since both of his 50-something parents were at the Walkway races and both ran the half marathon. Christa finished 16th out of 87 in her age group in a very solid time of 2:05:07. Richard was a bit further back in the pack, but they found me after the race, and both were smiling at the completion of a grueling 13.1-mile race. So yeah, Tim. If both your parents can come back and race the half marathon, you certainly can do the 5km. And yes: They’ll be a nice new MART singlet waiting for you.

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