CHARLOTTE — To qualify for the elite corral at the Around the Crown 10K, Stephen Salisbury had to run a 34-minute course, working out to a pace of a little over five minutes per mile.
Salisbury has been training for the race for three months, all while juggling the start of the new school year. He just finished up his first week back in his science classroom at Community House Middle School in Ballantyne.
Channel 9′s Hunter Sáenz asked Salisbury how fast he usually runs.
“For this race, I’m hoping like a 5:30, 5:35 [per minute] pace,” Salisbury said.
On Sunday, he joined the corral as an “Elite” runner for Around the Crown. He’s one of a few dozen runners to qualify for the course around Charlotte’s Uptown skyline.
“You don’t notice they’re hills when you’re driving in your car, but trust me, when you’re running, you feel them,” Salisbury told Sáenz.
The 39-year-old trained for three months, running seven days a week for that stretch with no rest.
“Not much, it’s probably stupid on my end but ... I’m not saying most people should do what I do at all. Stupidity is doing the same thing over and over again,” Salisbury said with a laugh.
But jokes aside, Salisbury earned his elite status.
“You put the work in and you benefit the reward,” Salisbury said.
It started when he was 12 years old and realized that he enjoyed running more than sports like basketball and football. He ran for the University of Rhode Island, and since then, he’s blazed through nearly 30 marathons in the U.S. and abroad.
But for him, it’s the community he’s built here, doing what he loves.
“All of my friends are in the running community, a lot of my jobs I’ve gotten from running, so it’s a huge gateway to everything in my life,” Salisbury told Sáenz.
With purpose in every step, he’s adding one more royal race, Around the Crown, to his elite running career.
(WATCH: ‘We’re a community’: Meet the running club cruising Charlotte’s streets every week)
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