TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

McCarthy Will Go The Extra Miles

ADVERTISEMENT

By LARRY BUGG Tribune correspondent

The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 4, 2008

NEW PORT RICHEY - It only makes sense that a cross country runner would travel to Australia to see the pope.
Cross country runners often brave heat, humidity and physical pain to go those extra miles.

Mitchell High No. 1 runner Harry McCarthy made such a trip last summer.

McCarthy is into running these days. He finished 26th at the Mitchell Invitational on Sept. 27 at Starkey Park, finishing in 18:26.

A deeply religious person, McCarthy said he always prays before he takes off on the 5K journey for his school.

The Holiday native said he also has some music running through his head as he runs. The senior used to be in an alternative Christian rock group, and he wants to do some musical composition.

His coach is happy to have the religious musician pounding the dirt for Mitchell.

"Harry comes to practice every day," said Mitchell coach Jeff Leavey. "He is always going 100 percent. He does it every day. There are more talented people in the world, but not better people. He leads by example.

"He also helped me design the course. We threw a lot of things out. He was an integral part of the design."

For McCarthy, it's the mental aspect of the sport that he appreciates.

"It's like a mental battle," he said. "It takes more to run it. On a long-distance run, you have to think about what you are doing."

McCarthy's experience seeing the pope made a major impression on him.

"It was an amazing experience," he said. "It was unbelievable. The people there in Australia were so inviting."

Running is something of a religious experience for McCarthy, whose best time this season is 18:04.

"At times, when I am feeling really weak, I pray," he said. "Prayer is important to me. Sometimes, during the race, I pray."

McCarthy is happy to have Leavey as his coach.

"He is amazing," McCarthy said. "He is a great guy. He really pushes us."

McCarthy said he wants to go to college for musical composition, but he is looking around now for the right school now. Aiding in his pursuit of music is the fact he can play bass guitar, guitar, some percussion and perform vocals.

Running has become a tool for McCarthy to play songs in his head, while trekking those 3.1 miles.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT