Derek's Story
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Derek began running cross country in middle school. His older brother was a runner and he encouraged him to try it out. Derek took to running right away and continued throughout high school. His fastest high school cross country time for a 5K was 16:04, though that was on an incredibly flat and fast course so he often wouldn't count it. He usually stated his high school PR as 16:47. He did not run competitively in college.
Derek began running competitively again after he was married, often winning or placing in the top-3 of his age group in local 5Ks and 10K races. Through the years, his love for running never wavered. At one point, his quad completely atrophied due to a knee injury and he had to give up running. Unsure if he would ever be able to run again, he took up biking and swimming and even participated in a few triathlons. Eventually he decided to try running again, but this time, barefoot. He really enjoyed it and, after training himself to run with correct barefoot form, he was able to run injury-free. That year he placed in the top-3 in a SAS campus race, which he ran barefoot. As the weather turned cold, he began wearing Vibram 5 Fingers, and he ran in those until he died.
He ran almost every day, sometimes twice a day. He ran 3-4 times a week with his wife, and 2-3 times each week with some guy friends. In addition to those morning runs, he would do a distance speed run with some fast runners during lunch on Thursdays. He enjoyed pushing himself, but he also enjoyed running for fun with friends. Sunday was always his day off.
In October of 2014, Derek won the SAS Championship 5K with a time of 17:28, which he referred to as his post-high school PR. While he eventually ran two marathons, his love was always the 5K distance because he loved the speed. In November of 2014, he placed 12th overall (1st in his age group) in the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon with a time of 2:58:39. That time-qualified him for the Boston marathon, which he planned to run in 2016. Overall he just loved running.
Derek began running competitively again after he was married, often winning or placing in the top-3 of his age group in local 5Ks and 10K races. Through the years, his love for running never wavered. At one point, his quad completely atrophied due to a knee injury and he had to give up running. Unsure if he would ever be able to run again, he took up biking and swimming and even participated in a few triathlons. Eventually he decided to try running again, but this time, barefoot. He really enjoyed it and, after training himself to run with correct barefoot form, he was able to run injury-free. That year he placed in the top-3 in a SAS campus race, which he ran barefoot. As the weather turned cold, he began wearing Vibram 5 Fingers, and he ran in those until he died.
He ran almost every day, sometimes twice a day. He ran 3-4 times a week with his wife, and 2-3 times each week with some guy friends. In addition to those morning runs, he would do a distance speed run with some fast runners during lunch on Thursdays. He enjoyed pushing himself, but he also enjoyed running for fun with friends. Sunday was always his day off.
In October of 2014, Derek won the SAS Championship 5K with a time of 17:28, which he referred to as his post-high school PR. While he eventually ran two marathons, his love was always the 5K distance because he loved the speed. In November of 2014, he placed 12th overall (1st in his age group) in the Charlotte Thunder Road Marathon with a time of 2:58:39. That time-qualified him for the Boston marathon, which he planned to run in 2016. Overall he just loved running.
