Rob Gomez, TD Beach to Beacon runner & running coach

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Rob Gomez is an engineer at General Dynamics OTS in Saco. He also works as an online running coach at the company. He started Eastern Shore Training this year. He was the second finisher in the main men's division at the TD beach to Beacon, where he received national attention for helping fallen runner Jesse Orach to complete the race. Thanks for coming in today.

Rob Gomez:

Thanks for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I love having fellow runners in the studio with me. The beach to Beacon, that was kind of an intense situation for you, wasn't it? Like, make the decision, there's a guy down, he's my friend, Pick him up, do well, get my time.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I mean, there really wasn't a lot of time to make a decision. It was kind of like the way that the situation unfolded. There was about three or four seconds to probably decide what to do, and so I did. What I guess kind of came instinctively was to grab Jesse and help him to the finish line. I've had a lot of time over the last month since it happened to go back and think about why, and I've been asked why on numerous occasions, and I think it's just because I honestly felt like there was part of a runner's code that was involved in that. I didn't feel like, based on how close he was to the finish and how far ahead he was in the race, I didn't feel like I deserved to win. And had I passed him and crossed the finish line, it wouldn't have felt like. It would have felt like a hollow victory to me. So that was. I wanted to make sure that he got what he deserved, in my opinion. And some people disagree with that, but I can sleep at night. So.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So people disagree with that. You actually had people who have said, why'd you do that?

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. And I mean it's. It's not really. And they have a. People have a point in saying the race is 10,000 kilometers. It's a 10,000 kilometer race. Jesse completed 75, 50 to 75 meters short of 10,000 meters. He didn't make it to the finish line on his own power. And so therefore he didn't win the 10,000 meter, the main division of the 10,000 meter race. He won 9.99 meters, 9.99 kilometers. So people do have a point in that regard. But really the decision ultimately fell to me and the finish line referees at Beachtech, and we all decided that we'd let the results stand as they are. So that's, That's. I'm glad they decided that way. So it. Yeah, people do have their own different opinions about that. And I understand that and I. But I'm glad it worked out the way that it did.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. That's interesting because I think that, you know, you're talking about any sort of sport where you have to set guidelines, you have to create a set of rules. And running is actually somewhat easier in some ways because it's get from A to B and you have to just be fast. But when people train as hard as they do to be elite athletes and somehow the rules seem like they're broached, they then that can be kind of hard to swallow, I guess.

Rob Gomez:

Absolutely. And I think there's running is a community in which, I mean, there's a lot of respect for the purity of the sport. When something comes when there's information brought to light where someone had been taking performance enhancing drugs or been cheating, there's a large group of people who basically rage against that particular incident. There's also people who check to make sure that there aren't individuals that are trying to submit false qualifying times for, say, the Boston Marathon. There's a large community that makes sure that qualifying times for Boston Marathon are accurate. So I think running more than other sports, there's a large. There's a push to keep it as legitimate and pure as possible. And so that's why there may be some people that view what happened in a less favorable light. But I think given the context of what happened, it wasn't like Jesse and I were competing for a spot at the Olympics. And it also wasn't like it was first overall in the entire race, which I think we'd have a different discussion. There would be more discussion about what. But given. Given the fact that it was a main division, which ultimately, in the grand scheme of things, is not as important, and given that all the parties directly involved all agreed in what happened, I think it was. I think pretty much everyone is okay with it. But had the context been different, I think you'd see a different reaction with the public at large.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So what we're ultimately talking about is sportsmanship.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I guess you could say that, sure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Which sometimes does come in conflict with competition and with actually winning. Sometimes the people who are nice are not the people who finish first.

Rob Gomez:

Right, right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So that's kind of a funny dissonance, I think, for many people.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. I mean, obviously there are people much smarter than I and people who have talked, who have broken this down a lot more than I have. So I don't really have a lot of insight as to what sportsmanship is as compared to, you know, competition, competitiveness, whatnot. But I think as far as the personal experience that I have and the incident that happened, I feel like it's more important to have a strong running community in Maine. It's more important to have good sportsmanship amongst that community. So the fact that I could have said, okay, I'm the first Mainer, I could have made a few more dollars in prize money isn't worth the amount of friendship, camaraderie, and good, I guess, good publicity for the running community that this has all generated. I mean, it's really. This has been really good for the running community at large, especially in Maine and for beach to Beacon. It's been good for beach to Beacon as well. So I think the way that things turned out, this has really been. I mean, this has really been a great thing. It's kind of a ramble. Sorry.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

No, I have to agree with you. I think that what I'm wondering about for you is you talked about the runner's code, and for you, there's something that, wherever that came from, I don't know, a combination of your upbringing and your training and your own personal outlo on life, there's something that's there, and I think that that really does jive with the way that many of us like to live life here on Maine.

Rob Gomez:

I think it does. And I think if at every opportunity that I've had, I've tried to express to people that what I did is not. It's not heroic What I did is not mean that I am a special individual. I am just a representative of the Maine community, the running community in Maine, but also the Maine community at large. I truly feel that it's a very Mainer thing to do that. And I feel that given if someone else, some other Mainer were in my shoes, they would have done the same thing. And maybe not everyone would have, but I really do feel, by and large, people would have, especially Mainers. That's what I feel. And every opportunity I get, I try to express that. So thanks for giving me the platform to express it again.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You were raised in Walderboro and your mother, you said, has worked at Moody's diner for.

Rob Gomez:

Give her 40 plus or minus five years. It's been a long time. She's worked there ever since she got out of high school.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you really have had a sense of what it means to be in Maine, to be a Mainer and to be a runner in Maine.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, yeah, I have. I grew up, born raised in Walderboro. I spent two years at the Main School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone. Then I went to undergrad at Bates College in Lewiston, and then I went to grad school at UMO and lived in Orono for a few years. And since I've been down here working at General Dynamics, I've lived in Biddeford, Portland, you know, Windom. So I. The joke I tell people is I've lived all over the state, but I've never been able to make it out. But the truth is, I don't want to make it out. I've seen a lot of the state, I know a lot of people all over the state, and we're all. I mean, there's different ways of living here in the state, but there is a true Mainer quality that really sort of permeates throughout the entire state. And the running community is throughout the state is a part of that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Talk to me about your evolution as a runner. When did you start?

Rob Gomez:

I started. I tried it out my seventh grade year at middle school in Walderboro, and after that I decided to try soccer my 8th grade year, and that was a disaster. The soccer team scored one goal the entire year, and the cross country team went on to win the local middle school championship. So I was like, that was a bad idea. But in high school, I started running at Madamic Valley and I made the varsity team, had a little bit of success there, but I never really took it seriously until I went up to the May School of Science and Math. I think There was a lot of freedom to a lot of time and freedom to sort of focus on different things. And there's a lot of wide open space up there. So I think that inspired me to run a lot more and that's what I think pushed me to the level of success that I achieved in high school when I was. I got a couple cross country state championships and class D, which no longer exists in cross country, but that propelled me to run in college and so on and so forth. So. Yeah, so I've basically been running since then with a little bit of an interruption in there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So as part of running, it's both a team sport and an individual sport. It's really something where you have to be self motivated, but you also had to be pretty self motivated up at the main school of science and mathematics. I mean, the types of things that you've done in your life require a lot of focus.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. And I think the experiences that I've had in my life have been conducive to generating that focus. There's been someone, actually a podcast that I did earlier, there was a discussion of maybe someone who's into the scientific disciplines, someone who's very calculated, maybe more left side brain is more apt to be into something like running because running takes discipline, it takes a schedule, it takes routine. And I think those. Not that people with right side brain can't do that. And I know a lot of runners who are artists, creative types, whatnot, but I think you're given a little bit of a. I think you're more predisposed to running if you have more of a, you know, more of a scientific mind. I don't know, but that's the discussion that it was. But I certainly think that my, my career path and my running path for me personally are intertwined.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So as someone who, I mean, I have not gotten to the level that you are at as far as winning races, but I have been running for most of my life. I'm probably starting a little bit younger, but for me the hard days are January, you know, get up. And I'm an outside runner, so I always, I'm never on a treadmill inside. It's the, you know, less than zero degree weather, it's the darkness, it's the cold. Somehow I figure out a way to do that. How do you figure out a way to do that?

Rob Gomez:

Well, running is literally a physical addiction. And I could say without a doubt that I'm addicted to it. And so if I don't get my endorphin rush After a couple of days, I start to get cranky. Life doesn't seem to be quite as bright and happy. I could tell that I'm missing something. I mean, it's not a complete crash, but I could tell. Okay, I need to make myself happy. So running provides an endorphin rush that I get. And if I have to go out into 20 below weather and bundle up and have the ice, the moisture from my breath freeze in my eyebrows and my eyelids, and I can't see. So what? It's worth it. And so I think that definitely plays a big part of it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it's not really something that you have to overcome. The dark and the cold, you just. Internally, you have this push to get out there.

Rob Gomez:

Well, I think we all overcome it. It's just the push is stronger than the deterrent for me, at least, and for everyone else who wants to get out there and run in the cold and dark and whatnot. But it's. I don't know, after a while, after you've been out there for a while and you warm up, you kind of enjoy it. And then I think being out there and knowing that you're one of the only ones braving that, it's. It's kind of a cool feeling.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah, I would agree. And I. I find that when I don't run, it's not only do I feel a little bit like, I don't know, anxious, but I also miss the outdoors, miss the seasons. Even just one day, I feel like I'm not somehow connected with what's going on around me.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you run when you go to other places?

Rob Gomez:

I love to. In fact, I go to other places just to run. So I actually yesterday I wanted to go to the White Mountains. I did a run up in the White Mountains in the main portion of the White Mountains, in an area that I hadn't been to, at least in the summertime. I'd hiked in the winter, but I went up there and loved it. And I. When you're in that moment, you do realize, you know, I have the luxury of being able to run in places like this and really soak it all in. So I know exactly what you mean in that, you know, running is kind of like a vehicle to just experience as much of the outdoors as you can, especially in Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. I find that if I go to a new place and I don't run, then I feel like something went wrong. You know, I have to have that, like, sort of full body sensory experience to really have been kind of Placed there. An individual versus being in a car and just kind of going past things.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. I think there's definitely a much bigger, much more indulgent experience running in someplace and driving in it. Yeah, absolutely.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it sounds like you also. Do you do roads and trails if you're talking about running in the White Mountains.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And so you're not really limited by. You don't have to have specifically a flat surface in any given place wherever you are you go.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. I think if you live in Maine and you run in Maine, I think you're kind of missing a little bit of the fun if you don't go out into the woods or into the trails and try to get as much of it as possible. I try to run on trails. I don't run enough on trails. I should do more. My ankles are telling me that I ran on trails yesterday. They hurt a lot. But I try to get on trails quite a bit because it's awesome.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So obviously beach to Beacon was one of your goal races, or I'm guessing because you did really well. So what is your preferred distance? What do you like to run?

Rob Gomez:

For me, as far as standard road racing distances, the longer the better. I haven't got into ultras yet. Maybe someday, but I'm more of a marathon guy, so that's what I'm training for right now.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So what's your next marathon?

Rob Gomez:

Philadelphia Marathon. It's the weekend before Thanksgiving and there's actually a number of Mainers who are going down to run that together. So it's going to be a lot of fun.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Why specifically the Philadelphia Marathon? What's so good about that?

Rob Gomez:

One, two reasons. For me specifically, I can't speak for other people, but for me it's later on in the fall so that there's really no chance of it being hot. I don't run well in hot weather. I can handle a 30, 35 degree day for a race. If it's 75, 80, it's not going to go well. So that running that late in November in Philadelphia pretty much rules out a hot race and it's later on in the season so that it gives me an opportunity to get as much training in as possible. The Maine Marathon, which is a great marathon, that's in for less than four weeks now, there's MDI Marathon, which comes right after that. There's Chicago coming up. I felt like I didn't have enough time to really get in the training that I wanted, so I picked Philadelphia. It gave me another, I guess, chunk of time in order to get ready for it, which hopefully will help. We'll see.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it sounds like you pretty much are always in training for something. Just to kind of keep yourself motivated, I guess. Yes.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. I was joking with my wife last night that I can't really remember the last time I didn't have a training plan for something. And there's probably something to be said for taking a chunk of time and not having a goal like that, not having a focus and just relaxing and enjoying running for what it is. I'm not really programmed like that, but I do try to take a little time each year, at least a week or two where there's no goals on the horizon and I could just, you know, relax and enjoy running for what it is.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Does your wife run?

Rob Gomez:

She does. She doesn't run as much as I do, which is probably a good thing. But she, you know, she kind of has a love hate relationship with it where she, you know, she'll get into a training plan, she'll like it and then there'll be, then there'll be injury or life happens, which most people struggle with. Life gets in the way or an injury pops up and then it's hard to get back into it. And so that's, I think right now she's in kind of a lull, a running lull, but she's getting back into it. And so we try to encourage each other with our running.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Do you run together?

Rob Gomez:

We do not all the time. She's. I like to chat and converse when I'm running and she's not like that. I know a lot of runners don't like to talk when they, when they run. They like to focus on running or just, you know, zone out. And so I'm over here on, you know, over to her side trying to chit chat and talk about everything and she's like, just be quiet, let me run. So it's, it could be an interesting dynamic when we're running together, but we do, we do get out there sometimes, you know.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That is a really interesting point because I don't mind running with other people. I have a significant other and I run with him and I find myself being the chatter in general and he often is quiet and I'm kind of waiting for him to talk and it doesn't always happen. And I'm thinking, is there something wrong? But it's probably just a difference in the internal self, you know, whatever it is that each person really is experiencing. I guess as a runner.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I mean, it's, I think different people get different things out of it. I mean, we all get similar things out of it. But beyond that, there's, you know, you or I may. In a group run, we may get a very beneficial social aspect out of it, where other people, they just want to. They want to find their happy place, their Zen when they're out there. And so that's. I like those days, too. I like my runs where I go out solo and I don't talk to anyone. Those are good, too, so I can understand that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So talk to me about coaching. This is something that you've, I guess, had some success with, probably based on the fact that you've had some success as a runner.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I. In 2014, I started Eastern Shore Training. It was just. It was. It isn't really. It's. To be honest, it's not a service that pays the bills. It's more of a side gig where it allows me to reach out to the running community a little more and have a bigger footprint there and sort of help people with their running goals. So I try to help as many people as I can, all age ranges, all ability levels, and so far, it's been a very rewarding experience.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So in that case, you must need to understand different types of running personalities. The solo runners, the group runners, the people who like to go shorter, the people who like to go longer. That's kind of a different type of mind blend that you're using, perhaps, than what you do with General Dynamics.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I mean, it's been a learning experience as I've gone on, because I've. I'm a particular type of runner. I know me. I know what I need. And obviously not everyone's like that. So as I've been doing this online coaching, because it's primarily online coaching, I've had to change running plans and encourage people in different ways that reflect the different type of runners that they are. Some people really need a lot of encouragement to get out the door. Some people need to be told to don't run so much, slow down, don't bite off, as you know, so much at one time. And so it's been. I've learned a lot in the process in order to try to be able to work with everyone.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also have a really nice kind of statewide team that you work with as a runner, and that must be very motivating.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah. The team is called Dirigo Running Club. It's sponsored by Fleet Feet Main Running, which is right down the road here. And you're right, it is statewide. I think it's got over 100 members now. And it's a competitive team, so there is a qualifying standard for it. But if you do get in, it's a, you know, it's a big fun group. There's a lot of competitiveness involved and you kind of, you rally around each other as a, as a team. Say like at beach to Beacon, there were tons of us there and we all got together, got a group picture and we really fed off each other as a group. So it is, it's a good motivating experience to be a part of this team. You're right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

One of the things that I like about running is that it is, it can be lifelong unless you get injured in some way and then you're precluded from running when you're older. But some of the people, I mean, we interviewed Joan Benight Samuelson here and obviously she's still out there on the course, like doing ridiculously well.

Rob Gomez:

Right.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And I look at people who are like her in her 60s or even people who are in their 80s and they're out there and they're still doing it. And it really makes me happy that this is something that so many of us just tune into and want to keep doing.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I think most runners, as long as their body will hold up, they'll keep doing it. There aren't that many activities that adults can do that they can do lifelong like this. And that's why I think the running community is so tight knit and really so big relative to other communities is that it's something that you could do your entire life. I hope I can do it. I mean, knock on wood, hopefully my legs will hold up, but I'd like to be involved with the running community as much as possible, whether I'm actually running or not.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've also seen since I started doing road races. And I took some time off from really being competitive, but I've started to kind of ramp up again that the interest level is just, it's just exploded. I mean, the number of really nice road races that we have around the state, the number of people that come from out of state. I was at the Booth Bay Half Marathon this weekend and there were 120 people signed up to run this pretty hilly course around Booth Bay. Maybe not the easiest, but people liked it, they were excited about it. And that's kind of fun given that Maine can be a state with fairly extreme weather sometimes.

Rob Gomez:

Yeah, I mean, I think over the past 15, 20 years it's really exploded with the color runs. There's color runs. There's different relays. There's. There's. I mean, even the Spartan races, I mean, that's a. That's kind of. That's a little different. That's more cross training. But the Spartan races and the. And those kind of the mud runs, whatever, It's. I think there's been a lot of way of trying to involve as many people as possible, and I think that's great there. It's. The more people that are involved with running, I'm biased, but the more people that are involved with running, the better, in my opinion. I think there's a lot of benefits for that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a result of what happened at the beach to Beacon, you've obviously been asked to speak with a lot of different news agencies. You've been doing podcast and print and online interviews and television. This has given you a platform. Does this surprise you? As you're a guy who runs and you helped your friend and now all these people are interested in talking to you? Does that in any way kind of speak to some bigger need in the world to have a happy story? I guess.

Rob Gomez:

I guess. I think you nailed it. I really think there was just probably a hunger for some good news, and that's, you know, on the grand scale in the grand scheme of things, this little incident's really not that important. But people just sort of latched onto it as a bit of good news, and it just. It's a sign that, you know, things are still pretty good, I suppose. So I think that's why it got the legs that it did, and that's why it went viral, so to speak. And, you know, I'm just. I was lucky to be in the right place at the right time to be a part of it. And I keep telling people that my 15 minutes of fame will just about be up pretty soon, I hope. But I'm just glad that what I did was able to give people a good moment, at least for a little while.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So for people who are listening, who might be considering signing up for a raise, they're not really sure. Do you have any words of wisdom?

Rob Gomez:

Yes, I do. It can be intimidating. The hardest part about running is just starting out. That is the hardest part. That may not encourage anyone to just get into it, but it's really. Everything gets a lot better from there. And the best part about running is really the feeling of accomplishment after you're done. No matter how fast you go or how far you go, as long as you hit the goal that you're trying to reach and finish the race or run or whatever that you're trying to do. There is a really good sense of accomplishment there. And the good part about it is with running, there's people all around you that are willing to celebrate that achievement with you. So it's really, it's an awesome thing. And the more people that do it, the better.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I've been speaking with Rob Gomez, who is an engineer at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Stockholm. You recently did very well in the main men's division. Second, I believe.

Rob Gomez:

Yep.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Would have been first, but the two of you together and has received national attention for helping fallen runner Jesse Ora to complete the race. I really appreciate you coming in, and I guess I appreciate the fact that I'm part of your 15 minutes of fame now, and I appreciate you being a part of the Maine running community and really presenting such a positive face. So thank you.

Rob Gomez:

Thank you. Pleasure being here.