Pandemic Papers: An interview with Tim Keegan

Tim Keegan (Class of 2011) was one of the strongest, most consistent cross country/distance runners we had during our “glory era” of Marist XC/distance running. That’s a fact, and his answers below bring back some great memories – some of which I hadn’t recalled until he wrote about them here (one of the great things about this Pandemic Papers series). He was a rock on our team and we could always count on a high-level effort from Keegs. He was part of our best MAAC and NCAA Regional performances. He was a sub-15 guy in the 5km, an IC4A caliber guy in the 10km. But it didn’t come easy. Keegs had no natural leg speed. Keegs had terrible form. He wasn’t the greatest workout runner. He’s the first to admit (below, several times, and I will absolutely validate this) that his dietary habits (food, drink, all of it) left a lot to be desired. A lot. But he made it work. Through hard work and uncanny racing ability – especially at Van Cortlandt Park, but he had his great moments on the track as well. He was remarkably easy to coach. Tell him what to do, he would do it, and do it well. Again, never a workout star, but always there for us – in a big way – on race day.

Keegs became the butt of a lot of alumni jokes soon after he graduated. His legendary dietary habits didn’t quite work so well when his 70-80-mile weeks were reduced by about 70-80 miles per week -- and he put on weight. A lot of it, at a young age. But, through strong external motivation and that killer work ethic, he was able to reverse it and make himself into a great runner again. Tim Keegan is a Marist distance runner through and through. He comes from the long, proud line of former St. Anthony’s High School runners to transition from the black Friars singlets to the red-and-white Marist singlets so well. He made great progress as a Friar runner under the guidance of Marist Running Alum Sean Hopkins, who was coaching there at the time, and then was coached by Marist Running Alum (and now Marist Dad) Tim Dearie, who has taken the modern-day Friars to even newer and better heights. Keegs is a truly loyal alum, along with his brother Meegan, who was recently featured in these Pandemic Papers. He stays connected with our program and I will always remember him for the great runner and solid citizen of our program that he was. I thank him for taking the time to answer these questions so thoroughly.

When, where and why did you start running? What got you going in the sport?

My introduction to running was through my dad who is an on and off runner. As a kid he would being me to the track to run every so often and I hated it.  I ran the Cow Harbor 10k with him when I was in junior high in basketball sneakers in 64 minutes – the picture of us crossing the finishing line would hang in his office for years – as my first real race.  Soccer and volleyball were my two main sports growing up and it wasn’t until I got cut from the soccer team at St. Anthony’s that I really got into running.

Tell us about your high school career at St. Anthony's. You had great success in a program steeped in history!

As mentioned I was cut from the soccer team at St. Anthony’s as a freshman– was an average player in a school that attracted great athletes – and figured cross country would be a good way to meet people in a new school.  I wasn’t too good as a freshman – I wasn’t part of the freshman top 7 in cross country – but I got better throughout and finished the year with PR’s of 5:10 and 10:54. Entering sophomore year I trained harder over the summer, went on a growth spurt and by the end of sophomore year I had established myself as a good runner running a 9:52 3200 and finishing 3^rd at the CHSAA intersectional outdoor track meet.

Junior year I didn’t quite run what I had hoped to run until spring track – I had improved in cross country finally making varsity - but didn’t place as high as I thought I would in most meets and I didn’t PR during indoor track.  That spring season new coach who had recently graduated from Marist, Sean Hopkins, started working with us and things started to click.  Much of my experience with track prior to Hopkins was heavy interval sessions and easy distance days.  Hopkins introduced us to tempos, thresholds, and workouts that really suited me.

At the St. Anthony’s invite that year I would explode more on to the scene. I led off the 4 x mile under the lights on Friday night, the marquee event of the weekend, and handed the baton off in first place running a 4:28 (previous PR was 4:42).  Coach Slevin, my freshman year coach who moved to Chaminade, jokingly went to the press box after the race and announced for me to report for drug testing.  The next day in the 3200 I would lower my PR in the 3200 from 9:52 to 9:32 and beat some good runners in the process Bobby Krause, Brendan Martin, Giovanni Signoretti, and Steve Childs.

My senior year highlights were breaking 13 minutes, 12:59, at Van Cortland in the 2.5-mile course which earned me my last name on the back of my singlet (a big honor at St. Anthony’s), and winning the CHSAA intersectional 3200 in 9:29.  My senior year I was also coach by Mr. Dearie who graduated from Marist, coached Bamberger and Quinn at Northport, who is Brian Townsend’s uncle, and whose son Brendan had a great freshman year for the Foxes.

It was a long time ago, but how did the recruiting process go for you? What other schools were you considering? What made you choose Marist? Was the St. Anthony's-Marist connection a big part of the decision-making process?

I pretty much looked at every MAAC school and a couple others.  I took officials to Rider (loved coach Hamer who I think is great, but didn’t love the campus), Siena (didn’t feel home there and didn’t like they were only XC and not good), Fairfield (same story as Siena), Quinnipiac (wasn’t in the MAAC at the time but now is. They pressured me to commit during the fall signing period or I’d lose my scholarship. I wasn’t ready and their team was weird), and Loyola (I wanted to go there, but things didn’t work out financially.). I also applied to Fordham (didn’t like their 6am practices and they were very expensive even after scholarships), Manhattan (another MAAC school, didn’t click with the coach) and Villanova (walk on opportunity there, was cool to meet Marcus O’Sullivan, but too expensive).

I had actually exhausted all my official visits prior to really looking at Marist. I had kept communication open with you Pete and did a short summer day trip, but I had not viewed the school as extensively as the others.  Throughout my entire senior year Lombi, a freshman who graduated from St. Anthony’s, would message me to visit frequently. I finally gave in the weekend you guys had the Last Chance meet and I fell in love with the school. Left there that weekend knowing that’s where I needed to go: I had friends there already, that St. Anthony’s connection, the campus was beautiful, and I knew I could have success there athletically: Keenan was running well, Shelley – CHSAA runner – was having a big freshman year, and I ran well under Hopkins who I assumed learned everything from you.

What was your major at Marist and how did it prepare you for your career?

I double majored in Accounting and Business Administration with a concentration in finance.  I also graduated with 150 credits which enabled me to sit for the CPA exam.  Marist prepared me well to sit for the CPA exam which I passed after getting more serious about it. It also helped me for my career in accounting and more recently for my current role which straddles accounting and corporate finance.

You had a GREAT running career at Marist -- among the best in our nearly 60-year history. What are some of your favorite memories and highlights, and what are you most proud of?

I think the top memory is being a part of the glory days of Marist running. I was on the varsity teams my sophomore year (4^th man) and senior year (6^th man) that finished top 10 at regionals.  That first time we did it was so awesome since it had always been such a goal for the program and to see you and all the other alumni who came to VCP so happy was awesome. It was a rainy, crappy day, and our team really showed up. Dave and Girma clicked on the same day, Will Griffin had great day (one of the top freshmen in the region), I had my best race to date, and Conor gutted it out after dealing with some injuries after MAACs in Disney.  My senior year, though I didn’t score, was awesome to see Kenny Walshak – a freshman who I ran with at St. Anthony’s – run well and my good friend, Nick Webster have the race of his life to finish as fifth man.

The other main highlight was outdoor MAACs my sophomore year where I came in 2^nd place in the 10k in 31:20, I believe is the time, and double backed the next day to run the 5k in the rain. That weekend Iona had sent a couple of their studs like Mo K and Ryan Sheridan out west to run at Stanford.  Going into the 5k we were having a really strong meet and it was a real possibility that we could beat Iona and I remember you telling me I needed to have a big race and beat a couple guys who were at my level or slightly above.  I finished that race in 3^rd beating Josh Hibbs who I believe may have won the steeple the day before and was a real solid runner for Iona and a Rider runner who had run in the 14:30’s that season. We ended up beating Iona, which was a really cool feeling as that never happens even if they didn’t care that much.

Other brief highlights were running 25:47 at VCP the week after regionals in 2008 at IC4A’s to make the All East Team and qualifying for IC4A’s in the 10k running 30:51, my PR, my sophomore year in a race at Princeton where I was alternating leading and pushing the pace. Lastly, it was cool battling with Lenny Korir from Iona for 3^rd at 2010 MAACs in the 10k – we traded laps and he ultimately outkicked me with 400 to go. Lenny struggled that year, his first year at Iona, before everything clicked and he went on to win two NCAA titles and represent the United States at the 2016 Olympics. He spiked me badly during the race and for a while I had a scar from an Olympian.

You were an especially strong cross country runner, specifically a downhill runner at Van Cortlandt Park. To what do you attribute that success?

I think I benefited from having familiarity with VCP from high school.  We would race there 2-3 times a year and came in to do back hill workouts.  I felt I knew them like the back of my hand and knew where I wanted to be/how I wanted to feel at the top of the back hills where I would try to pick up the pace, catch some people and come out of them in a good spot.

I also benefited from having a strong training group over the summer where we get good sessions in on Tuesday at Bethpage and Thursday at Sunken Meadow.  Tom Lipari mentioned this in his interview, but it was a good Marist group along with some other locals that kept things fun and also hammered some runs.  This enabled me to come into preseason feeling good.

You were an active member of the Jerk Squad. What are some of your favorite highlights/memories of being a student-athlete at Marist, away from the track?

Yes, I was a former host of the Jerkies, 2011 Biggest Jerk and 2008 Rookie of the Year.  Those honors are prominently featured on my resume.  They were some good nights in the Cabaret and a tradition that I hope is continuing!

In general, living with 6-8 of your best friends and spending all your waking time together is the best thing about college.  Those bonds you form during your four years will last a lifetime.  If the walls of 56 Sunset could talk, the stories they could tell.  Spring Break senior year in Punta Cana while not the best for my training was an incredible time and I had some great nights at Rennies (RIP), where I always acted responsibly and limited my alcohol consumption as a student athlete…

You have remained a very loyal alum and we appreciate that. How have you stayed connected to your friends and teammates from college?

My senior year of college, John Keenan started hosting an annual alumni Christmas party at the Saloon (RIP) and he continued that for five years despite moving away and all the changes in his life that he documented in his great interview.  After five years he passed the torch to me where I hosted it for four years which I loved doing.  It’s a great opportunity to catch up with friends who I ran with at Marist and I would get the opportunity to meet other generations of Marist track alumni.  Last year I passed that on to Ryan Scrudato, Justin Tampellini, and Will Schanz who did a great job hosting the 10^th annual event.  It’s great to see that tradition continue.

On top of that, living in New York City has given me the opportunity to regularly hang out with many former teammates as so many live here.  Just here where I live on the Upper East Side: my brother, John Kristie, Mike Nicoletti, Curtis Jensen, Tom Devaney (former javelin thrower), Will Schanz, Quimes, Ryan Scrudato, Tommy Lappas, and Justin Tampellini are all within a mile of me.  Kyle Havard is close by in Astoria, Luke Shane just moved to the area, and others like Matt Panebianco have lived here in the past.  In pre-Corona days, I would see them often. I can also easily get to VCP and the Armory which I have done to watch the team and catch up with other alums.

Last summer we did a bigger group trip with about 10 alumni to see the Mets play at Wrigley which was a blast.  On top of that Nick Webster, Zak Smetana and me have started an annual college football weekend where we see a big game – the only thing that was missing from Marist experience.  We’ve been to Alabama in 2017 (they went on to win the national championship), West Virginia in 2018, and LSU in 2019 (also national champs and College Gameday was there that weekend).  It’s been a great way to catch up with friends, see new parts of the country, experience things, and create new memories. 

Tell us about your post-collegiate running career. It has been filled with ups and downs but some pretty good highlights!

In college, I had a well-earned reputation for not having the healthiest diet on the team.  Upon graduating I felt burnt out from running and continued to eat like crap.  I gained over 50 pounds in the year after I graduated, 0 of which were muscle.  I think the biggest catalyst for me getting back into running was getting invited to Colin Johnson’s wedding in Thailand.  I knew if I was flying around the world I wasn’t going to look like sh*t on the beaches.  I started running and eating better January 1^st of 2016 so I could look better when I would fly to Thailand in June.  At the end of January, I decided to sign up for my first half marathon – the Brooklyn Half in May – to help hold me accountable.  I ended up losing over 30 pounds during that period, joined a gym where I started lifting more seriously for the first time, and built up my mileage from struggling to do 3-4 miles a day to about 50 miles a week.  I ended up coming in 79^th place out of 25,000 plus runners running 1:17:05.

Since then I have run the BK Half twice though not faster than that and the New York City marathon once where I died horribly in the second half.  I had plans to do both the half and marathon this year which have fallen through.  Currently I’m in decent shape - ran a 16:55 solo 5k time trial in April and have plans to attempt a mile time trial soon.

What was it like being teammates with your younger brother (Meegan) at Marist?

It was a very cool experience as I went to a different high school as my younger brothers Mike and Brendan.  We hadn’t been in school together since we were in 5^th and 3^rd grade.  It was great having him to hang out with during my final two years of school.  It was also nice having a place to crash when I came up the year after graduating!  Since the team was so close and we’ve remained close since graduating it is nice having the same group of friends to hang out with.  My final race, the 10k at MAACs, wasn’t my best race, but Mike ran with me that day which always meant a lot to me.

How as the Covid pandemic affected your life -- both professionally and personally?

Compared to nearly everyone else interviewed on here, it hasn’t had much of an effect on me.  I still work (just from home which has been an easier adjustment than I thought), I still run 5-6 days a week (just now I normally choose to run in less populated areas and with a neck gaiter), I still lift (just with adjustable Bowflex dumbbells and a bench I ordered when sh*t the fan), and I still try to support the same local bars (just with to go food + drinks and now some outdoor dining in phase 2).  I still do the same things, just differently. It certainly isn’t as difficult as raising children in this new reality, navigating the challenges of online teaching, working in a hospital, or as a cop which many other alums have done. I lost out running the marathon, but I’ll do it next year and on a vacation in Arizona/Vegas, but I’ll be back.  In the grand scheme of things, I’m lucky. 

You are a big sports fan. How much do you miss sports and what do you anticipate will happen with sports moving forward?

I have missed them big time and can’t wait for them to come back.  I think the NBA bubble plan makes a ton of sense where you test daily and keep them isolated from everyone else to reduce the chance of testing positive.  It is Dr. Fauci approved too. I’m sure it will be difficult missing family until they’re allowed to join in the 2^nd round and there may be difficulty keeping the bubble COVID free.  But I think it will work and I can’t wait for it.  Hockey is currently looking like they’ll have two bubbles cities in Canada which I think will work too.  Baseball now seems to be coming back too.  Their return seems a little murkier with travel outside a bubble, but hopefully it all works out.

The logistics of football make it seem tougher – bigger teams, there’s not much distancing in the trenches between offensive and defensive lines and they’re not going to play in a bubble like in the NBA.  But I know Goodell will try his hardest to have them play.  In an ideal world where football does happen, you’ll have great sports TV from end of July through the end of the year with baseball, hockey and basketball playoffs, football, and other big events like the Kentucky Derby, Masters, and US Open.

College sports I assume will be contingent on whether students return to campus. If they do, I think they’ll happen, if they don’t I think they don’t happen.  Hopefully, we are in a better place where students can return to campus.  And hopefully all athletes both D1 and professionally stay healthy.  First and foremost, for their personal and family’s sake no one wants to go through that struggle or see them struggle.  I also think if someone were to get sick it could be a point of inflection like Gobert’s positive test where it forces people to reevaluate things. 

Based on what I’ve read on the disease, going past these seasons, I think the 2020-21 NBA and NHL seasons will be played without fans as indoor spread is a much bigger deal than outdoor spread.  I’m optimistic a vaccine will be produced at the end of this year – early next year based on what I’ve read which would enable a return to normalcy for the following seasons and for football in the fall assuming it can be mass produced and anti-vaxxers get their heads out of their asses.  Next year’s baseball season I think can be played with some fans and increase capacity as more of the population gets vaccinated. If there isn’t a vaccine next spring, then who knows as many aspects of life will need to be rethought.

Our recently graduated seniors missed out on their final few months of college. Reflect on your final few months of college and what message or words of wisdom can you provide for the proud Class of 2020?

As many others have said it sucks.  The end of senior year was some of my best memories and it sucks that you were robbed of that. An outdoor bar I use to frequent on Long Island, the Boardy Barn, when I was in my 20s had a sign when you waited to get in that said “it’s not the journey, but the friends you meet along the way.”  Your journey may have been cut short, it may not have had that fairytale ending you dreamed of, but those friendships you made are real and aren’t going away.  Continue to stay in touch with your friends and continue to make great memories with them in the real world.

Anything else you'd like to add ...

Thanks for asking me to do this interview and giving me this platform, Pete. I’ve really enjoyed this series of interviews and I’m happy to be a part of it.  Going to Marist is probably the best decision of my life – I had the time of my life there, have so many great friendships that formed there, and my experiences there helped me grow up and mature.  Go Foxes!