Athlete Profile: John Woodard

Age: 28 Residence: Queensbury, NY Employment: Crew Leader at Pizza Hut Primary Sport: Track & Field Secondary Sports: Alpine Skiing, Bowling

by Elisabeth Merrett

It wasn’t hard to figure out how Queensbury resident, John Woodard, felt about his first running of the Silks & Satins 5K Race in Saratoga Springs on July 26th. He didn’t need to say very much; his easy grin said it all. Woodard placed first among the three Special Olympians who participated in the race, with a time that pleased both Woodard and his coach, Margaret Martin of Queensbury. He completed the 3.1-mile race in 23 minutes, 57 seconds.

“I had a great time,” said John, still grinning, and alluding both to his performance and his enjoyment of the 5K race, now in its seventh year.

The race raises funds for Special Olympics, an international organization dedicated to empowering individuals with mental retardation or clinically diagnosed learning problems to become physically fit, productive and respected members of society through sports training and competition. Special Olympics offers children and adults with mental retardation year-round training and competition in 26 Olympic-type summer and winter sports. There is no charge to participate.

John has a learning disability, but you’d never know it by talking with him. He comes across as a nice young man who’s fun to be around.
Saturday’s run, held on the pleasant shady side streets of Saratoga Springs not far from the track, attracted a field of more than a thousand runners. Margaret also ran, but finished well behind John.
“I was way back,” she said. “I’m a lot slower than John.”

John clearly loves to run. He trains four times a week, from five to eight miles each time. When the weather is bad, he runs on the indoor track at the Glens Falls Civic Center. This is where Margaret and he meet up two or three times a week, especially when John is getting ready for a race.

“I also do more hills,” John said, referring to his training.

John wasn’t always this dedicated to his sport. “I did track and field in the last two years of school,” he said, “but I didn’t like to come in last.”

John Woodard no longer has to worry about that. When he met up with Margaret Martin through Special Olympics nine years ago, he began to get serious about athletics and fitness. Margaret also coaches John in Alpine Skiing, and the two are good friends.

“I got to know John well,” she said. “When the ski season ends, the track and field season begins.”

Of course it’s not all about running for John. He has also successfully competed in bowling, and was chosen to represent the United States in the 1999 Special Olympics World Summer Games, held in North Carolina. He won a gold and a silver medal that year.

According to Margaret, it was almost four years ago that John set his sights on participating in a track and field event at the 2003 World Summer Games in Ireland. He began running longer distances, lost weight, and paid attention to a healthy diet. It all paid off. John medaled twice at the games, which started this year on June 21st in Dublin and ended on June 25th. He took a bronze medal in the 1,500-meter race and won gold in the 3,000, a distance he’d never competed in before.

After such a successful performance in Special Olympics, why did John decide to run the Silks & Satins 5K?

“My coach signed me up,” he said, adding that he only learned he was registered to compete in the July 26th race when he returned from the World Games.

This is the first year that Special Olympians have participated in the 5K race, and it is John’s first race at that distance. He has raced longer distances, 5 miles, and shorter, 3 miles. John started out doing shorter distance racing, but moved into longer distances on his own. He wanted to finish the 5K in fewer than 26 minutes, and was clearly happy to better that time as much as he did.

But John likes a challenge, and his performance in Saturday’s race is another step along the way to a long-range goal: the New York City Marathon. Both he and Margaret know the commitment this will take. And John is well aware of the social benefits he has gained from being a Special Olympian and competing at a world-class level.

“I like to meet different people,” he said, adding that he used to be shy. “I’m more outgoing now.”

This kind of confidence is evident in John’s life off the track as well. He works as a crew leader at the Queensbury Pizza Hut, and, according to Margaret, makes an “awesome” pizza. He has some advice for any young athlete competing in track and field or in other competitive endeavors — advice that applies to many areas of life.

“I learned you have to set your goal and stick with it,” he says.

Elisabeth Merrett (petelee3@aol.com) lives in Queensbury and is a retired teacher and freelance writer. Her recently published book, Storied Landscapes: A Journey (Writers Club Press) is now available. She enjoys kayaking, hiking, bicycling, tennis and whitewater rafting.