My name is Douglas Martin and I ran at Union from 2004 to 2007.My ...

My name is Douglas Martin and I ran at Union from 2004 to 2007.My years as a runner at Union were some of the defining years of my life. I did not attend Union to run but I roomed with a runner on the team, Josh Shrewsberry, and that was my first introduction to the sport of cross-country. In the spring semester of my freshman year, Coach Johnson let me start training with the team and told me I could run the next fall. Over the next 4 years, I learned to love running more than I ever thought I could. The discipline that came from training with the team was obvious when I was always more caught up with studying and class assignments during season rather than other times of the school year! My senior year (2006) after Nationals, I thought I was done with cross-country until Coach Johnson approached me about running as a grad student and then serving as a grad assistant for a year. That opportunity he gave me shaped my future as it helped me decide to be a high school teacher and eventually coach cross-country and track. As a senior in college, I did not know what I wanted to do when I graduated, but I really wanted to be involved with coaching running in some way. By getting my master’s in education, I was able to start teaching without having taken any education classes or doing student teaching during my undergrad time. Looking back now I can clearly see how God used Coach Johnson to lead me down this career path. My last year as a runner at Union was unlike any other as I was a fourth year runner, grad student, first year high school teacher, and first year husband (married to Mary Beth in September of that fall semester). I still remember changing into running clothes in the car on the way to the USJ track from the high school and barely making it in time for the workouts. Some of my favorite memories of the team are running with John Fox and Phillip Thompson and trying to kill each other in workouts and on long runs (as well as rooming together for one great fall semester), running the course that crossed the creek in Berea, KY, freeze out runs in middle of winter, running with Coach to Do-Dah’s Donuts and getting cinnamon rolls, going by Coach Johnson’s office to talk about running or anything else we wanted to (something I still get to do these days in the summer!). Finishing 8th as a team at Nationals at Kenosha, WI in 2007 when we went in ranked 20th was another highlight I’ll never forget. I now teach Spanish at South Gibson County High School, just north of Jackson. I have coached the cross-country teams there since the school started in 2009. This past year we started a track and field program and I worked with the distance runners. Coaching and teaching are two things I’d never even thought of as career options going into college, but now can’t imagine doing anything else. My wife, Mary Beth and I are so blessed to have 2 children, Ethan and Hannah. My running now mainly consists of running with my high school runners or pushing one or both of children in a running stroller, but I wouldn't have it any other way! I am so thankful for my time at Union and all the memories made and lessons learned while on the team.