Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 13, 1991 TAG: 9104130019
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"When I was in the fourth grade, the teacher went around the class and asked each one of us what we wanted to do when we grew up," Taylor said. "I said I wanted to run the marathon in the Olympics."
That was a dream of a West Virginia boy 16 years ago. Now, it's just a little more than two hours of running from reality for Taylor, 25, a Fincastle resident who will run the biggest race of his life next Sunday at the World Cup Marathon in London.
Taylor, a Virginia Tech graduate, is best known in these parts for his success in 5- and 10-kilometer races. Now, he is stretching his distance in the marathon.
Taylor's first try at 26 miles, 385 yards came last November in the U.S. Marathon Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Taylor finished fourth in 2 hours, 13 minutes, 56 seconds, qualifying for the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials marathon a year from now in Ohio's capital city.
The winner in Columbus advanced to the World Championships in Tokyo. The second- and third-place finishers qualified for the Pan American Games this summer in Havana. Taylor leads a three-man contingent to the World Cup Marathon, where about 150 elite runners from 60 nations will compete.
The three-time West Virginia track athlete of the year was The Athletics Congress' national champion at 10,000 meters in 1988. His quick success in the marathon paid off after he gambled and quit his assistant manager's job at Blue Ridge Outdoors in Tanglewood Mall to devote more time to marathoning.
Now, Taylor has contracts with three sponsors, who pay him an annual base with incentive bonuses connected to race appearances and performances, and personal appearances. Taylor is signed with New Balance shoes, Oakley sunglasses and Power Bar, an energy candy food.
"I started running when I was 9, and the marathon was always my goal," he said. "I was waiting for my body to mature, to be able to compete. My brothers were all runners, and I learned a lot from them. They helped me get started, and then when I got to the national level, that built a lot of the confidence I have.
"I've always believed in myself, that I could do this. I've always felt that if a person doesn't think he can accomplish goals, no matter what they're in, then they won't."
Taylor said he and his wife, Lori, made a commitment to his running future. The Taylors are known for their running success in the region, and Lori Taylor says she would like to follow her husband into the marathon. "She just doesn't have the time to devote to it now," her husband said. "She's teaching at Magna Vista High, and that's an 80-mile commute each way every day."
Taylor said that when he was training to run the 10K, he would do between 90 and 105 miles of road work each week. Now, he runs at least 110 miles weekly, up to a high of 150.
The Taylors went to Scandinavia to compete last summer, but most of their foreign running travel has been to Canada and the Caribbean. Taylor said he hopes his trip to England for the World Cup will be followed by a visit to Barcelona for the 1992 Summer Games.
The top three in the U.S. trials qualify for the Olympics.
"I don't have a goal for the trials as far as a time goes. I just want to be the top three," Taylor said. "If it takes 2:18, fine. I do have a goal I want to reach before my career is over. I want to run a sub-2:09 before I stop."
Taylor figures he has plenty of time to get there.
"Distance runners are supposed to peak between age 28 and 31, so if that's true, my best years are ahead," he said. "I know a masters' runner who is 42, and he's running some of the best times in the world. You go out and think, `What can I do?' not, `Where's it going to end?' "
Taylor said that while he thought he could be an elite long-distance runner, he never figured he would be paid for his success. If he hadn't made the World Cup, he likely would have run the Boston Marathon on Monday. Instead, depending on his London effort, he figures to point toward the New York Marathon in November.
Until then, he will compete nationally and regionally in shorter, more familiar, distances.
"You really can't run more than two really competitive marathons in a year," Taylor said. "They are so brutal to your body and system. You think you feel fine after about a week. Then you go out to run, and you're totally zapped. It's really different from a 10K, believe me."
by CNB