Running Towards the Future

Greg Decker is far from home, but never far from the thing he loves: running. And when I say running…I mean long distance running. I recently had the opportunity to sit down and have a nice chat with Greg and his running partner Omarco ‘Carlos’ Robinson.

Greg, who is twenty two years old, originally hails from Washington DC and came to St. Maarten to study at the medical school – AUC. His specific area of study: Sports Medicine. He has a very easy going open personality and is quick to smile. Carlos, who originally comes from Jamaica, has been living in St. Maarten for over six years. Carlos has a reserved nature that seems to almost border on shy and a quiet determination about him. These seemingly polar opposites met as participants in the Marigot 6.5k in September of 2O1O and have been competing together ever since.

Greg and Carlos have become something of a sensation on St. Maarten. Haven’t heard of them? Where’ve you been? This running duo has managed to place first and second, respectively, in every race they’ve participated in the last year.

“Well, I actually placed 4^th in the triathlon,” Greg admitted with a grin. “But it was the first time I ever attempted one.”

“I don’t like to swim, so I stay with running,” Carlos added with a quiet chuckle.

These two athletes are impressive, to say the least. They compete together, each race almost a private affair between the two, a personal competition to see who will come first, regardless of the other participants. When asked who has more wins they both pause. Greg answers first while Carlos seems to be counting the races in his head.

“I think I have the most wins,” Greg offered while Carlos smiled knowingly, obviously still tallying the races in his head. Greg returned Carlos’ grin and shrugged. “It doesn’t really matter.” Carlos nodded in agreement. It doesn’t matter because they both love to run. Both took up running at a young age.

“I started running in 1998,” the now twenty nine year old Carlos explained.

“I started when I was in 9^th grade,” Greg told me. “I originally was trying out for soccer. I was twelve years old. My mom is also a runner.” Greg ran throughout High School and college.

When I asked Greg why he chose long distance running instead of the short sprint he answered, “Well, I’m not naturally fast.” So, endurance it is. As for Carlos, he’s more of a sprinter. He’s participated in other areas of track, not just long distance.

“I do enjoy the shorter distances, like the 8OO meter and 15OO meter. The longest I ever ran was a 15k which is considered half a marathon and it wasn’t easy.”

Both runners are under the watchful eye and expert guidance of their trainer, John Gibbs. Gibbs is a former competitive runner before an injury to his Achilles Heal sidelined him from the sport.

“I do miss competing,” John admitted. “But those who can no longer do, teach. Greg and Carlos have a lot of potential. They can both go really far in this sport.”

John isn’t the only one to notice Greg and Carlos’ potential. The duo have recently landed a sponsorship from Fatum Insurance.

“Fatum picked me up after I won the 1Ok last year,” Greg explained. “And now they’re sponsoring Carlos, too. We’re heading to Curacao in about two weeks to run there. And the Fatum race in St. Maarten is this coming weekend, October 23. It starts at 6:3Oam.”

“It’s a burden off my shoulders,” John smiled proudly. “I don’t have to carry all the costs and worry that the athletes aren’t getting what they need. And they travel to other islands to compete.”  Other islands include Guadalupe and St. Baths. “Greg and Carlos have nothing left to prove here in St. Maarten,” John added.

As far as a training regime, it’s not easy for either runner. Greg has a full class load at AUC and Carlos holds a full time job, working eight hours a day. Still they manage an average of 3O – 4O miles running per week.

“I do most of my running on a treadmill,” Greg informed me. “It’s the easiest thing with my schedule. Plus the roads here aren’t that safe for running. If I do go out for a run I usually run through the lowlands, where a lot of the roads are secluded.”

Carlos gets up at 4am to run the roads. “There’s a lot less traffic and it’s cooler. The heat is hard.”

“The heat,” Greg nodded. “I had a hard time adjusting to the heat when I first came here. If I’m out for a run it’s usually as the sun is going down and things are cooling off.”

Throughout his career Greg has had several injuries, the worst being an injury to his Achilles Heal.

“That was hard. I was sidelined for 3 months. I basically lost the whole season. And I couldn’t do anything. I was really going crazy not being able to run. I spent a lot of time lifting weights at the gym. That’s all I could do.”

And when asked about special foods for training Greg just shook his head with his easy smile. “I basically eat anything I want. The running pushes my metabolism so high that I just burn off anything I eat.”

When I asked about future running goals, John mentioned the 1O,OOO meter race in which the World Record was set by Kenenisa Bekele in 2005. He ran a time of 26:17.53.

“I’d like to be able to run the ten thousand in under thirty minutes,” Greg stated. “I did it in 3O minutes, 3O seconds but that was on an indoor track.” Carlos managed a time of just over 35 minutes on an outside course. Both are extremely impressive times.

“I’d also like to run the Boston Marathon,” Greg divulged.  The Boston Marathon is one of the hardest, if not THE hardest marathon. It’s a grueling 42.195 km of winding roads, including several hills, that make their way through the city of Boston. On April 18, 2011, Geoffrey Mutai of Kenya ran the fastest marathon ever in a time of 2 hours 3 minutes 2 seconds. That same year 26,895 people participated in the race. That’s not to say that all participants finished.

Though looking towards the future and, ultimately, a career in Sports Medicine, Greg knows he will still keep running. “It’s fun to me. It’s something I love to do.”

Carlos is also looking forward, aiming for a career in running. “It’s something I want. And I know I can make a career from it.”

As for the present, both athletes readily admit enjoying representing St. Maarten when racing on other islands.

“It’s an honor, really,” Greg says. “I’m proud to represent St. Maarten when I run.”

I found this to be quite impressive as neither runner is from St. Maarten.  John agreed. “They both really enjoy representing St. Maarten and they both do it very well.”

Greg will be leaving the island In May to return to Washington DC and continue his studies. When I asked Carlos how he felt about losing his running partner he was quick to answer. “I’ll miss him. We’ve developed a really good relationship.”

John echoed the same sentiment. “We’ll be sad to see him go, but Carlos and I will continue on. I’m hoping for a one year sponsorship from Fatum and I also hope that other companies will begin showing more support for athletes.”

Greg tells me that even though it was a big adjustment coming to St. Maarten, he’s really enjoyed his time here. “Sure, I miss things about home, but this has been a great experience.”

My parting question had both runners smiling nervously and squirming. I simply asked to know a fact about each that people may find surprising. Carlos answered first as Greg gallantly tried to avoid an answer.

“I love watching cartoons,” Carlos admitted slightly self-conscious. “Tom and Jerry, specifically.”

When I laughed and admitted to being a sucker for Bugs Bunny, Carlos returned my grin with one of his own. I then turned to the still evasive Greg who finally admitted he liked to cook. When I asked him what his best dish was he admitted to having a sweet tooth.

“Desserts. I love desserts , especially anything with chocolate.”

This got another approving chuckle from me. One thing is for sure, what ever direction Greg and Carlos choose to take they will both hit the ground running and continue running towards their future.