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Mannozzi walking down a dream
This morning, Michael Mannozzi of Boardman will make a dash to fulfill his dream. The 2005 Boardman High graduate is in Eugene, Ore., for the 20K racewalking Olympic trials.
The hardest part wasn’t qualifying for the prestigious event, the years of training for it or getting his body in the best shape possible — it was just getting there.
Mannozzi took a bus with the Boardman YMCA to Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Wednesday. Once there, he waited for a buddy from his college days at Notre Dame in South Euclid to pick him up. He crashed on that friend’s house overnight before his flight left at 7 a.m. Thursday for the Pacific Northwest.
“It’s been a long few days,” Mannozzi said.
His journey has taken off since his time at Notre Dame where he was a national racewalking champion. And people have taken notice. To help fund the process, the Agnew and Basista families, Denise Gorski and many neighbors, friends and clergy members of Evangel Baptist Church on South Ave. have donated time and money to cheer on Mannozzi as he represents the Valley.
“They really helped me get this done professionally,” Mannozzi said. “They really hit the ground running with this effort.”
His thought process of tackling the event is simple.
“I expect myself to give everything I have,” he said. “When you give your heart out, you have a better chance of making things happen.”
But it’s more than that. There’s only so much you can say before you actually do, and Mannozzi knows that better than anyone.
“I want to run a smart race,” he said. “People will say, ‘Oh, you have to go out and kill it. Why don’t you take the effort you give in the last 400 meters or mile and take that into the beginning of the race? Then, you’ll make the Olympic team.’
“I say that’s impossible. Races are won because people go out smart. It’s in your means to push it to your limit. The smartest thing for me is to do that and be smart and controlled.”
The automatic Olympic-qualifying time is 1 hour, 22 minutes and 30 seconds. The ‘B’ time is 1:24.00. Both are about eight and nine minutes faster than Mannozzi’s personal best.
“I’ve made considerable progress to where I don’t know what my limit is,” he said.
Mannozzi still has the goal to qualify today, while building for the next four and eight years. He’s going up against 13 other race-walkers in the 20K (12 miles and 50 times around a track) including 2-time Olympian Tim Seamon and 18-year old Tyler Sorenson.
More information about Mannozzi and the Michael Mannozzi Olympic Dream Fund can be found on his Facebook page or at MichaelManozzi.com.