Mike Shevenell's Testimony on Sam

Happy Memories of Sam

I was Sam's coach while he was a student at PCA. This means we ran together just about every afternoon for those 4 years. Now, I say "ran together" somewhat loosely, as he could be far ahead of me at some times. But, Sam, like all runners was a creature of habit and I'd like to share a few of his habits.

First, as we began each day's run and the athletes would bolt down Seaborne Drive at PCA. To be goofy Sam would break into a "walk" - race walk style. Amazingly, he could keep up with us while he was "walking".

The second habit repeated frequently was Sam's famous "Injured Runner Imitation". This was probably done to convince the coach that he was seriously injured and couldn't practice that day. But honestly it just made us laugh. If you can picture this (forgive my insensitivity) it looked like someone with polio trying to run a 5 minute mile.

Sam’s third habit was most memorable. For the 4 years Sam had a ritual after nearly every race he ran; whether it be Cross Country, Spring Track, or Indoor Track. He threw up - yes puked ! Honestly at first this ritual really bothered me. Sam puked on my sneakers a number of times - I finally learned to stand back at least 6 feet after he finished his race. The indoor track officials in our league instituted Rule #23 on behalf of Sam. It stated that if a runner throws up on the track the coach is responsible to see that it gets cleaned up. I now had my motivation. It was then that Sam became a legend in our league.

This past year I found myself retelling many of these stories to our current track athletes - believe it or not they all have come to know the "Legends of Sam Magee": his records as well as goofy habits.

Our Response

I want to ask many of you to consider something to keep these memories alive (except the puking part). Lets do a road race together. I know many of you have become estranged from your running shoes but you need to become friends again. Let's do the Rich McKeon 10K in Sept. Rich was a PCA teacher, coach, runner and friend of Sam's who died a couple years ago. Maybe we could do this race in memory of these great men.

To the PCA Class of 2003

Something that happened earlier this year that I didn't fully understand at the time. I began praying urgently for several of you by name. Originally I thought it was because most of you were graduating college, starting jobs, careers & married lives. But now I know it was for times like today. Know that God has not forgotten you. Take these times to draw closer to Him – you’ll never regret it.

In Christ’s Love

Mike Shevenell

August 8, 2007