Hometown Pride

Welcome back to Taylor Talks!

What better way is there to start July than with some hometown pride? I'm not just talking about my own pride either... I'm talking about my entire hometown being extremely proud tonight!

Tonight, as my family gathered in the living room to watch the television, a guy who I've known since kindergarten ran in the Men's 10,000M Final at the Olympic Trials! I know I don't normally post names or photos of people, but I absolutely had to talk about him tonight. Plus, he was on television... anyone could have seen him and his name there.

Martin Hehir was the pride and joy of Washingtonville tonight as he ran in the finals of his track event. I haven't seen him since we graduated high school (where he was salutatorian, by the way), but I was extremely excited to watch him run. I couldn't even imagine how his parents, sisters, and brother were feeling as he ran, because it was already so exciting for the rest of us to watch!

Now, like I said, I've known Martin since kindergarten. We were in many classes together throughout the years, from elementary school all the way up through high school. In elementary school, we went to each others' birthday parties, played together with the same group of friends at recess, and neither one of us could have predicted that I would one day be seeing him on television like this. But when we got to high school, and he was showing his incredible track talents, the whole town took notice and it was clear what kind of a path he was on. In fact, aside from his family, friends, and whoever else was in his close personal circle in high school, his biggest fan was none other than my own dad. No, I'm not kidding. My dad has been Martin's biggest fan for years now. My dad would tell him and his parents that we'd be watching him at the Olympics one day, and that Martin was so fantastic... it was pretty funny, and we tease my dad about it, but I think that my dad was just so in awe that someone I grew up with could be so skilled at an event like this.

Unfortunately, Martin didn't make it to the Rio Olympics. He did, however, come in 7th place in the run! I don't know for sure how many people ran in that race, but there seemed to be at least 30 people or so. Out of all of those guys running, he came in 7th! That's insane! I have no doubt in my mind that by the time the next summer Olympics roll around, he'll be winning, not only at the Trials, but at the Olympic Games as well. This was only his first Olympic Trials... he's still got an amazing career ahead of him.

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Thanks!
Taylor

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