Larry McDonald gets in a workout at the Marysville High School track. McDonald will compete in the Ohio Senior Olympics in Westerville.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
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His running career began in high school and continued through college.
He ran road races until his middle 30’s.
Now, Larry McDonald of Marysville is preparing to compete in today’s Ohio Senior Olympics at Otterbein University.
McDonald got in a workout at the Marysville High School track during the middle of the week.
He also participated in the MHS track and field program’s summer series meet.
“I’m using this as a warm-up for Saturday, said McDonald, who turns 68 years old on Monday.
He was the oldest of the 46 participants in various events during the local meet.
McDonald began his athletic career in baseball as a youngster growing up in Oklahoma.
He later dropped that and began running as a way to get into condition for his next athletic endeavor, which was football.
“I began in track and field running short races, but those didn’t go very well,” he said. “That’s when I went to the longer-distance races.”
It was also about that time his gridiron career came to an end.
“My dad, who was also a runner, said he thought I was in the wrong sport,” said McDonald. “I said good-bye to football in order to concentrate on running.”
That was probably a very good decision.
McDonald became a two-time regional champion in the mile, or 1600 meter run, while attending high school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.
He also won a state championship in the event when he knocked off the defending state champ.
“He had already committed to a Division I (NCAA) program,” smiled McDonald. “I was going to go the JUCO (junior college) route.”
The long-distance runner competed in events from the half-mile to two-mile while he was a high school athlete.
McDonald later matriculated to Southwestern State, an NAIA school in Oklahoma.
Throughout his collegiate career, he was a five-time conference champion in either the mile or two-mile-events.
The Oklahoma native and his wife moved to Marysville a while ago in order to be closer to family members.
He is the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Marysville, which is located on Chestnut Street.
McDonald will compete in the 1500-meter run at the Senior Olympics.
“A good time for me would be somewhere around 5:53,” he said. “However, my time may be slower since it’s going to be hot on Saturday.”
He’s hoping that, regardless of the weather conditions, he has a solid performance at the Senior Olympics.
However, McDonald is going to have quite a long time to kill while waiting for his race.
“I have to be at Otterbein at 9 a.m. in order to register,” he said. “The 1500 is going to be one of the last events of the day, so I’m going to have a long time to wait once I get there.”
A place in the top four would qualify him to compete in the national Senior Olympics.
That meet will be held in Pittsburgh in July of 2023.
“I’ve never been to the national meet because it’s been held in states pretty far away,” he said. “Pittsburgh would be a nice drive for me.”