Below is my Substack post about the race. Shameless plug = please consider subscribing to this at
petecolaizzo.substack.com. Thank you.
Spencer’s
story
A
day at the Olympic Trials marathon
The
results say that Spencer Bossi-Johnson, 28, from San Diego, placed 42nd
in 2:18:15 (5:17 per mile) at the United States Olympic Team Trials marathon on
a sunny Saturday morning in Orlando. It was his second-fastest marathon time
and his only other sub-2:20 performance after his trials qualifying time of
2:17:15 at California International Marathon in 2022.
Those
are the numbers.
The
story is so much better than an already amazing race.
We
love Spencer.
Anyone
who has spent more than 10 minutes with Spencer loves Spencer.
And
that love was so very evident on Saturday in Orlando. Between family, former Marist
College teammates and friends, “Team Spencer” was a cheering force. We were
located at a strategic spot, selected carefully by Spencer’s wife Lauren, about
400 meters from the finish line.
We
were able to see Spencer four times at that spot. Each and every time, he
acknowledged us like WE were the stars of the show. When, of course, it was our
“little running engine that could” who was our star – today and always.
The
truth of the matter is, it didn’t matter how well Spencer would have done. We
all would have loved him just the same, and he knows that. That was the coolest
thing about being at the Olympic Marathon trials.
The
fact that Spencer crushed it, the fact that he followed his race plan to perfection,
the fact that he moved up steadily through the field and finished ahead of so
many runners with faster times entering the race … that’s all gravy. Spencer
has touched us all with his gentle demeanor, his kindness, his loyalty to everyone
in his life.
When
he went past us for the first time, around the 2-mile mark, several of us in Team
Spencer – his mom, his mother-in-law, his high school coach, his college coach
-- succumbed to tears. Tears of joy. Tears of awe. We shared hugs of amazement.
Our little guy, the ultimate underdog story, made it to the big stage. And he
was savoring every minute of it.
And
so were we.
2 comments:
Thank you for these heartfelt words. Spencer gave us a taste of what hard work and dedication to your sport can do. Seeing him place 42nd was just so thrilling. Grateful to you, Pete, for describing perfectly what it felt like!
A big congrats to Spencer on his tremendous achievements - both qualifying for the trials and doing so well there. Kudos also to his support team of family, friends, and coaches! It’s incredibly difficult to reach such a level in the sport. Well done!!!
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