Date of Birth: December 21, 1986
City: Huntsville, Alabama
Brief Biography
Just your typical 25 year old male, born and raised in the Old Dominion of Virginia. Did a tad bit of running in High School after realizing that I was no good at golf and being told that XC runners got all the girls. I was pretty much hooked on the sport by the time that I realized that the latter was far from the truth, so after a remarkably mediocre high school career, I went on to run Division 3 cross country at Hampden-Sydney College, a small, private college in Southern Virginia. While there I had the pleasure of running under 4 different coaches in my four years of eligibility, but the opportunity to kick it old school and run track workouts on one of the few cinder tracks still remaining in use made it all worth while. I didn't quite set any land speed records while in college, but logging all the miles that I did over those 4 years certainly helped to keep the beer belly at bay and I improved just enough to trick myself into thinking that if I kept working at it, I might someday be good. I'm still waiting for that day to come, but nevertheless I've continued to train for races of all distances since entering this scary place known as the "real world" back in 2009.
I moved down to Huntsville a little over a year ago for my job not knowing a soul, and I can't thank the awesome running community of Huntsville enough for what they've done to make this place feel like home. I currently dabble in race distances from 5k up to the marathon on the roads, and in training you can typically find me running random mileage or getting my butt kicked in speed workouts by new Fleet Feet Racing team member, Andrew Hodges. When I'm not running, working, sleeping or eating, I like to enjoy the great outdoors via hiking and camping, read quality literature, and practice the mandolin in hopes of one day being good enough to tell people that I actually try to play the darn thing.
Short Term Goals
Continue to work hard and have fun with running in hopes of grabbing a few new PRs in 2012 and tackling some new challenges along the way. Looking to run another fast marathon to prove that my first sub 2:40 was not a fluke. Most importantly, I'd like to stay healthy all of 2012 and do my best to remember to bring my Nike racing flats to all the races I'm running.
Long Term Goals
Volunteer more. Run a race longer than 26.2 miles (Mountain Mist 2013!). Run a race in another country. Stretch more to avoid being crippled by the time I'm 30.
Personal Records
- 2 Mile at Kelly Watt Memorial Cross Country Race on 11/2010 Time 10:36
- 5km at Spooktacular 5k on 10/2011 Time 16:29
- 10km at UAH Spring 10k on 03/2011 Time 34:37
- 10 Mile at Army 10 Miler on 10/2011 Time 56:44
- Half Marathon at Mercedes Half Marathon on 02/2011 Time 1:14:08
- Marathon at Pittsburgh Marathon on 05/2011 Time 2:39:59
- 50km at on Time 0:00 - Check with me next year
Goal Races
- Mercedes Half Marathon, Feb. 2012
- Army Ten-Miler, Oct. 2012
- Mountain Mist, 50km, January 2013
- A Marathon, 26.2 miles, Date: TBD
A fun fact others might not know
I once had the starring role as a speed limit sign in a public service announcement about obeying posted speed limits in neighborhoods. They called it "acting", but all I did was sit there while an attractive young lady broke up with me for holding her back in life. Sounds like real life to me. Video is available upon request.
How have you been an ambassador to the sport of running?
I always try to answer people's questions about running as best as possible or at least point them in the right direction to a person/source that knows more than I do. I'd like to get involved coaching at the high school level sometime in the near future.