Guttenplan: Trav's Trail Race is a fitting tribute

In a perfect world, Travis Landreth would show up to the race named in his honor Sunday morning and add another title to his ever-evolving running resume.

The man who loved competition would fly back to Newburyport in the midst of his marathon training for the 2008 Olympic Games and give his hometown the treat of witnessing a world-class athlete. He'd mingle with the up-and-coming runners, inspiring them to push harder. The former NCAA All-American cross country athlete might even share the story of the time a squirrel fell on his head during a training run to help ease the nerves of any high school athletes preparing to race against him.

But Landreth is no longer with us. The Newburyport High alumnus, who would be 31 this year, died at the age of 24 after collapsing during a routine training run on Jan. 12, 2001. The fact that his death was caused by a congenital heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy seemed impossible considering Landreth displayed nothing but heart in his rise from a modest high school runner to a Big East champion.

More than seven years later, all we are left with is a memorial race and a scholarship in Landreth's name.

The eighth annual Trav's Trail Race will take place Sunday (10:30 a.m.) in Maudslay State Park — a course Landreth called home for years. Proceeds from the event will go toward the Travis Eliot Landreth Memorial Scholarship Fund. Four Newburyport High alumni were awarded $1,000 scholarships last spring thanks to the fundraising efforts.

The fund also sends additional money to organizations that support post-collegiate runners who are training for world-class events. It's fitting because, at the time of Landreth's death, he was training with the Nike Farm Team in hopes of qualifying for Olympic Trials.

It's impossible to know if Landreth would still be enjoying his post-collegiate running career. But his finest running days were certainly ahead of him.

"From a coaching standpoint, he never ceased to amaze me," Newburyport High coach Don Hennigar said. "Whenever I thought, 'That's as good as he's going to get,' he took it up to the next level. There's no way of knowing how far he could've taken it. But I wouldn't bet against him."

The Landreth genes are deeply infused with running talent. Travis' oldest sister, Susanna, 40, qualified for Olympic Trials twice (2000, 2004). The prime of her running career came in her 30s. Thus, it's fair to speculate Travis would be entering the prime of his career today.

Travis' 22-year-old sister, Molly, earned a four-year cross country scholarship at Penn State University. She placed first among all women at last year's race. Travis, from all accounts, would be satisfied with nothing less than a first-place finish among the men.

Travis' father, Dennis, who passed away last fall, ran track and cross country at Clemson University in the 1960s. Travis achieved All-American status at University of Connecticut in 1997.

Hennigar believes Travis could've been the most accomplished runner of the family.

"As he got older, I could see him getting into the 10,000-meter race and the marathon," Hennigar said. "He never ran a marathon, and I would've liked to have seen what he could've done. He certainly had the potential — without a doubt — to make Olympic Trials."

Susanna will be representing the Landreth family in Sunday's race as Molly is sidelined with an injury. In years past, the girls have stated their belief that the best way to honor their brother is to win.

After winning last year, Molly said, "It's amazing how hard (Travis) ran and how much he ran from his heart. I try to be like him ... I thought about him every second of the race."

r At least one Newburyport High athlete who is looking to run in college will receive a scholarship based on the proceeds.

r Three post-collegiate training teams — the Green Mountain Running Camp in Vermont, which employed both Travis and Molly, Road Runners Club of America and ZAP Fitness in North Carolina — will receive money for post-collegiate runners who don't have enough time to work a full-time job.

r For the Landreths, the women of the family will attend the race and would like nothing more than to see a large turnout.

But for those who do attend, remember that a race honoring Travis Landreth must be run in the proper manner. Run fast and enjoy every minute of it.

Dan Guttenplan is the sports editor of The Daily News. E-mail him at dguttenplan@newburyportnews.com.

Photos

Molly Landreth sprints to the finish line as the women's winner in last year's Trav's Trail Race, run in the memory of her brother, former Newburyport High standout Travis Landre Staff photo