Your Cart is Empty
Craig Wood, 55, flew across the country to get in the 'set' position for the 200-meter dash at The Florida Senior Games. What was he going for and was it worth it? Take 3 minutes to read below how a man took a chance on himself.
By Ray Glier
Craig Wood, 55, flew from Seattle to Tampa on Friday The 13th to retrieve the No. 1 world rankings he held for two months in 2024 in Masters Track in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. Doomsayers have trouble peeking out the front door on Friday The 13th. Craig got on a plane with his wife, Melissa, and was 42,000 feet off the ground.
The Florida Senior Games were Craig's last chance of the 2024 outdoor season to squeeze past Great Britain's Darren Scott who snatched No. 1 in the 100 and 200 from Wood on September 24. Mythology was not going to stop him.
Craig, a grandfather of seven, was impressive in Florida after flying 2,500 miles. He went 11.56 seconds in the 100 to win a gold medal. He smoked the field in the 200 in 23.70 to get another gold.
He still didn't catch Scott.
You must be thinking, “All that time and cost of getting from his home in Olympia, Wa., to Brandon, Fla., for the Florida Senior Games …for second!” There is no windfall of $ in Masters track for first, much less second. There isn’t even a breeze carrying $1s.
So, I asked Craig, “Was it worth it?”
He bowed his head and then looked up with a wide smile.
“That’s a great question,” he said.
And he didn’t hesitate saying, “Yeah, it was worth it. At this stage of my life, my life is about my wife, and my kids, and my business, but to do this one thing that’s kind of about you (me), yeah, it was fun.
“Besides, it's rainy and cold up in Washington and to come down here and enjoy this Florida sunshine with my wife and enjoy the friendship again of many people here, it was worth it."
It’s a strong message for Geezer Jocks. Make time for your fitness and goals instead of always making sure everyone else is taken care of. We are in the habit of putting others first too often, you know.
There is another message to be learned from Wood’s cross country jaunt. In this day and age of “guarantees”, Craig arrived in Florida with no guarantees. The competitor in Wood, still present from his college football career 35 years ago, was what dragged him across the country, not a guarantee of No. 1.
Craig looks like he could still play college football. He was a free safety at the University of Puget Sound, but he is muscled up so that he looks fit for strong safety, which positions you closer to the line for run support and more hitting.
He ran the 100 meters in the Florida Senior Games, Craig said, as if he was racing in to make a tackle with that muscle.
“My jaw was clenched,” he said. “Running like a football player doesn’t help you out here and I ran like a football player. I didn't mean to, but in my attempt to get that record, I think I tightened up. So if I would have been a little bit looser, that might have helped.”
Wood’s football player’s strength allows him to explode out of the blocks. What helps with his mostly fluid stride down the track is the flexibility that comes from plyometrics, he said.
Craig and Melissa own their business in fire suppression and have 60 employees. They also have a technology company that develops apps in Customer Relations Management (CRM). I’m sure some of you wondered about his resources to make a quick cross country flight to participate in a track meet with no prize earnings, but that is trifling to the bigger point of what his competitiveness says about Wood.
Spirit, discipline, and focus laid the foundation for him being No. 1 in the U.S. outdoors in the 100 meters and 200 meters in 2024 in a very competitive age group (M55). Those skills also grew a small company into a big company that works in Washington, California, Idaho, and Oregon.
Wood hopes his employees appreciate his effort.
Craig also won the 50-meter dash gold medal (6.52 seconds) at the Florida Senior Games. He was the anchor on a 4X100 relay that flew around the track in 48.79 seconds. The team included Michael Bradecamp, 60, David Gibbon, 59, and Hector Betancourt, 53.
The four gold medals was not the pot of gold Wood was hunting, but his smile said everything.
Yeah, that trip was plenty worth it.
Please support Geezer Jock™. Share this story and please browse the store.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
