Blake's senior year was a "gateway" to many different things.....
Running track was a passion I had from when I was six years old. My momma signed me up for a runners club, to keep me from getting sucked in to the streets of Philly, and I literally took off. I kept at it from day one, but not realizing how serious it could be when one day during a middle school intramural meet, I ran the 100 and 200 relays, dusting everyone on the track, including school team members, and catching the attention of high school coaches. Five years later when it was all said and done, I was a highly decorated runner within the state of Pennsylvania, earning multiple titles during both indoor and outdoor seasons, and causing talk of me becoming an Olympic sprinter one day. Colleges sent piles of mail, and I endured all the hoopla, but I ultimately wanted one thing as my passion shifted: to move out of the Philadelphia projects, and become a veterinarian.
"Blake, you can examine dogs and cats anytime, but your future rests on this track," said my college coach at the time, when I came on campus.
I was running for a small school in North Carolina as it poured money into the newly revived program, and I showed promise during my freshman year, winning a few races and qualifying for the NCAA finals. I noticed more and more however that I was shying away from my major, as track at the school turned into a cash cow with the team's successes. This was at a time where a lot of the other athletes were counting on their physical attributes to "make it," but I knew my cash flow would be in what I truly loved at this time: studying animals.
Sophomore year, I took a break and focused more on school, as I pushed myself enough to where I was ahead in credits, and carried a 4.0 grade point average. Junior year I ran sparingly, as new, faster recruits and transfers came aboard, and supplanted me when I wasn't at my best. The summer of my senior year, the head coach was fired, along with all the staff, and out came Coach Sim, a former gold medalist for Jamaica in the Olympics, and one who I immediately hit it off with.
"Blake, ye run sometimes like eh stick up ye ass, mon. Loosen up a little on your stride. You don't have to pound the pavement so hard. Let the momentum flow gracefully," he said to me one day during practice.
Though I wasn't counting on the Olympics (I was already set for grad school in pursuit of my veterinarian goals), Sim had me wanting to be competitive again. The last coach and his staff didn't gel with me, and caused me to focus more on my studies as they seemed to play favorites. Sim, who at 51 still looked as if he could suit up and dust all of us, had an even playing field from the jump, promising shine to anyone who put in the work, and kept their grades tight.
"You remind me of me when I was 20, Blake," Sim told me one day after practice. "I see the work you put into your body, the way your mind works. You're an even keel kid, and if I have my way dude, you will still have a crack at the Olympics, mon."
The first meet came in the spring, and I crushed the competition in the 100, 200, and 400 relays, for Sim pushed me to where I was running full time again. I could afford to train more, as I'd pretty much finished my degree in the fall, and found myself working out more and feeling more confident. One meet however, the Penn Relays, which was held in my hometown, came to be a huge turning point in my life, as events happened during and after the meet, that changed me forever.
"Blake, you got the 100 and 200, while Perez is doing the 400," Sim told me the night before the beginning for the world renown event.
I would be running against some of the world's best competition that happened to be college students like me. I was ready, for Sim trained with us prior to the big event in Philly, tuning us up by making us run different events during meets leading up to, and holding harder practices to get us focused. I, being only five foot seven, didn't look to have a chance against these "world class sprinters," for they were taller, more defined, and had bigger names and better competition on the regular, even in their own programs. I won the heats for both events, and suddenly "the underdog" caught all the attention.
"You don't stand a chance dude. You got your little fame for winning your heats, but this is for he big boys," said one runner from Texas, as we were in our stances for the 100 final.
"Perry," which was his last name, was considered a Olympic gold medalist hopeful, and was already rumored to earn endorsement money from the likes of Nike and Ralph Lauren. The gun sounded and I led from start to finish, setting a school record, in addition to beating the nearest runner by almost two seconds (it wasn't Perry, as he finished fourth). I would place second in the 200, but only with a quarter inch between me and the winner. The team was ecstatic, and of course my family were in the stands going ballistic, as I managed to "get the juice," getting interviewed by ESPN afterwards to signify me being the "newest sensation." I could only attest my successes to being pushed by Sim.
"My friend, you earned it. As I mentioned, you should be running in the Olympics, too. I would maybe pause on grad school, and see if you could win a few medals, and some cash from endorsements. You have the talent!"
Sim gave me my confidence back to where I was contemplating a future outside of science. After the events, several of my teammates and other athletes from other schools hung out briefly, then I spent some time with family before I had to return to my hotel, for we had a midnight curfew in order to prep for our 9 a.m. departure for Raleigh from Philly International. I'd come into the lobby of the hotel to find Sim sitting down, playing with his phone and waiting on me.
"You're the last one, so I had to make sure you didn't miss my curfew," he said, as it was 11:47 p.m.