It was the summer of 2014. Everything was awesome (according to The Lego Movie at least), Pharrell Williams had everyone clapping along to “Happy” and Cheetos launched a fragrance called Cheeteau (no joke).  It was also when NRC gained the awesome, happy (and unscented) Anthony Shelly.  And while the fads of 2014 have come and gone; thankfully, Anthony has remained a solid member of our crew and we’re honored to recognize him as our Runner of the Month!

Anthony’s running story is connected by the friendships that have motivated him through the years.  It was a friend at work, in 2010, who asked Anthony to participate in a 5K.  That first friendly invite and his first race was all it took to get him hooked on running.

You see, growing up Anthony didn’t have many opportunities to play sports in his small town of Middleton, TN.  Middleton’s population was (and is) not much more than 500.  His high school class was 79 kids.  To have enough boys for little league, 8 year olds played on the same team as 12 year olds.

“My coach wouldn’t let me swing at a pitch until I was 10,” jokes Anthony.  “I had a much better chance of walking than hitting.”  I hear that he’s a good whiffle ball player, though!

After high school, he attended Harding University in Searcy, AR.  He has lived in the Middle TN area ever since college including Antioch, Columbia and now Smyrna, where he runs the streets and greenways often.

Soon after his successful 5K in 2010, Anthony met a runner at the Smyrna YMCA named Rosie Arellano.  She was faster and farther along than he was at the time, but it didn’t matter because they trained and talked “running” side-by-side on the treadmill.  Rosie encouraged and coached Anthony to improve as a runner and eventually run 3 marathons, which they completed together!

Just after the 2014 Country Music Marathon, Rosie moved away and Anthony was devastated in losing such a close friend.  Then three weeks later, he met NRCer Elizabeth Story and they started running together.  She brought him to NRC that summer and he quickly became a regular!

“Anthony has a great heart!” says Elizabeth.  “He likes to give to charities with his races and encourages me to be a better runner.  He goes to Japan and Brasil for work and likes to travel, so we joke that if one of us wins the lottery we’ll share the money to do a destination race!”

As the North American CFO for his company, Anthony gets to use his years of experience in the automotive industry.  He also appreciates his company’s commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle and community involvement.  Each year they sponsor employees who want to run the Special Kids Race in the spring, sponsor the Stacy Windrow 5k in the fall and adopt Special Kids’ families at Christmas.

In his four years with NRC, Anthony has settled into a core group of friends who not only have trained for a slew of races together, but who support each other off the race course!

One of the first NRCers Anthony remembers meeting is Katherine Cain who was very welcoming and a fast friend.  She’s a prime example of the caliber of friends in NRC – coming out to cheer on Anthony and Elizabeth in the sparsely spectated Greenway Marathon and extending a thoughtful invite to her family’s Thanksgiving dinner.

Scan the NRC panoramic photo of the weekly Wednesday run and you’ll likely spot Anthony among the brood.  He may seem quiet and almost shy, but tag along with him for a run and you’ll quickly find that he has a great sense of humor and lots of cool stories to pass the miles.

“I always leave feeling so much better after that run,” says Anthony.  “It’s the highlight of my week!  I especially enjoy the nights when weather is a challenge.”

In his 8 years of running, training, and racing, Anthony has made a lot of memories, but one that stands out is his first half marathon, the Middle Half.

“I pulled into the parking lot and the song ‘It’s a Beautiful Day’ was blasting across the parking lot and I had to really fight back the tears,” he recalls.

While some races can be more emotional than others, some are just downright tough; but those can often be our favorites, like the 2013 Country Music Marathon is for Anthony.

“It rained the entire race and we ran through some deep puddles going through Shelby Bottoms,” said Anthony.  “That was my PR, and my friend Rosie only beat me by 1 minute.  I should mention she was fighting an injury, but still.”

Anthony has trained with and paced lots of other runners to help them successfully run their first race and hit their PR goals.  I asked him if he thought he might have a bit of a coaching gene?

“I think so,” he admitted.  “I always coached my kids’ sports teams, baseball mostly.  And I have benefited so much from others coaching and encouraging me, I just want to pass along what I can.”

Among his family and friends, he’s famous for having no sense of direction, but that’s not all he’s known for.  Friend and NRCer Mattie Goostree, shared a few thoughts from her years training with Anthony.

“He is selfless as a running buddy!  Whether it’s taking a walk break with you when he could keep going, lending you a headlamp when you forgot one or picking up your race packet – he’s always willing to help out a friend.  He’s friendly to all and will remember your name even if he meets you just once!  But don’t follow him on a NRC route, he still gets lost.”

He is currently signed up to run the Carmel Marathon with the NRC destination crew next year, and he’s actually looking forward to the training.  As far as a top spot on his race bucket list he jokes, “Well, maybe Boston when I am 100.  I need to check the qualifying time for centenarians!”

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ROTM Speed Round

Favorite long-run fuel:  Gu

Do this at least once in your life:  Stop and think how wonderful our lives are.

Title of the current chapter of your running story:  How do you get there again?