THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, March 17, 1995 TAG: 9503160175
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: COVER STORY
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
MIKE HARRISON - arguably the top local contender entered in Saturday's Shamrock Marathon - was practically forbidden to run a few years back while living in bucolic Louisa County.
Townsfolk there pretty much drummed runners off the narrow, shoulderless roads, and the woods were dotted with hunters.
That left only the high school track in Mineral, but 105 times around a track (26.2 miles) can be real tedious.
So Harrison, now 28 and living in Virginia Beach, did not run after graduating from Louisa County High, where he ran on the track team. He didn't have the money or study habits to go to college, so he pumped gas for four years.
It wasn't until he landed in South Hampton Roads about five years ago that he laced up his running shoes again.
Here, he was amazed at how often he saw runners pounding neighborhood streets. He was stunned that a local store would deal only in running shoes and gear. And the runners club, the Tidewater Striders, just blew him away.
``I didn't know this running scene was going on,'' Harrison said. ``That's how stupid, or innocent, I was.''
Harrison knew of the Boston and New York marathons but thought they were limited to an elite class of post-college runners.
``I was so excited and so naive and so energized,'' Harrison said.
He was so pumped that within three years and after only six marathons, he qualified for the Olympic Trials in 1992.
``I kept improving and improving, surprising myself. Surprising other people,'' Harrison said. ``It was almost like a dream.''
But the rise came so fast that Harrison faltered in the Olympic Trials. He stopped running at 18 miles. He's still not sure why.
Now he wants a second crack at it.
He's pushing to win Saturday's marathon, after finishing second in last year's Shamrock behind a 1992 Olympian from Malawi, Africa. Harrison posted a time of 2 hours, 23 minutes, 52 seconds. His goal is to qualify sometime this year for the 1996 Olympics.
And if he doesn't make it, there's always 2000, he said. Marathoners, he noted, reach their peak between the ages of 32 and 35.
Except for the treadmill in his living room, there are no indications that the area's best marathoner lives in a modest Bow Creek townhouse. The kitchen pantry is stocked with Pop Tarts, potato chips and sodas, and they're not just for Harrison's 8-year-old step-daughter.
He knows his eating habits are slowing him down but admits that cutting the junk from his diet ``is so hard.'' Harrison drinks 2 liters of caffeinated soda each day. Seven to eight times a week, he eats fast food. Yes, greasy hamburgers and french fries. He has a weakness for Pop Tarts.
Still, most of Harrison's energy is spent training, either running or working out one to two hours a day. He works part time for a Chesapeake construction company.
He admits he's not in his best shape since an ankle injury in November and a subsequent bout of depression. Even so, he is a favorite for Saturday's race.
Last year, running was going so well for Harrison that he quit his full-time job as a carpet cleaner in July and went professional. Adidas signed on as his sponsor. He spent the summer and fall traveling and racing. He was training about three hours a day.
He's been to Las Vegas, Germany, Japan, South America. He's won a few and he's lost a few. But it wasn't all he thought it would be.
``There's too much pressure in running for money,'' said Harrison, who has a wife and stepdaughter. ``We have a mortgage payment and a truck payment.
``How do you come home with Christmas coming up and say I didn't make any money this weekend? I didn't want to go in the hole or bring my family down because of running.''
In November, Harrison stepped in a pothole at a Rhode Island airport and sprained his ankle. He started the marathon the next day, but the pain forced him to stop after 18 miles.
``I never thought about injury,'' he said. ``When you're an athlete in great shape you're almost Godlike. You think nothing's going to happen to you.''
After fighting depression, Harrison returned to work in January and began training again in earnest.
Harrison has run in 34 marathons and counting. He's placed in the top 10 or better in 27.
But he's looking forward to Saturday's Shamrock. He's finished in the top 5 in the Shamrock since 1990, but he's never won it.
``It's my hometown marathon.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by CHARLIE MEADS
Except for the treadmill in his living room, there are no
indications that the area's best marathoner - Mike Harrison - lives
in a modest Bow Creek townhouse stocked with Pop Tarts, potato chips
and sodas.
by CNB