In the beginning

Manzano spoke with the students about how his passion for running started at the very same playground almost 18 years ago.

MARBLE FALLS — Olympian Leonel Manzano took a lap Monday around the playground where his journey to the world’s largest sports venue began. “This is where it all started,” Manzano said to the Colt Elementary School students gathered around him. “I ate in this very same cafeteria. I played on the very same playground. This is where it started.”

Manzano, a 2004 graduate of Marble Falls High School, spoke to the students about his beginnings and how running changed his life. But he also urged the kids to find a passion in their life and pursue it through goal-setting and hard work.

Manzano was a member of the 2008 Olympic team. He competed in the 1,500-meter run in the Beijing summer Olympics. His list of accomplishments include nine Texas high school championships, five National Collegiate Athletic Association championships, one world record and an Olympic competition.

For many people those accomplishments might seem out of reach, but Manzano’s message to the students was that if a little boy originally from a small village in Mexico can make it to top of the athletic world, then they can reach their dreams as well.

“This was actually my first school,” he said. At the time it was called Marble Falls Primary School and had classes kindergarten through second grade. When students reached the third grade, they went to Marble Falls Elementary School.

Manzano and his family immigrated to the United States when he was 4 years old. They eventually settled in Granite Shoals, where they still live.

Nobody in his family had ever graduated from high school, let alone college. But while attending the primary school, Manzano said he found something he enjoyed doing — and he turned out to be pretty good at it, too.

“This is where my love of running began,” he said. “Running for me was a way out. It was something I really enjoyed, too. I think one time I did 20-30 laps around the playground.”

From primary to elementary school, he still ran. Sometimes for fun, sometimes to get away, he said. During is sixth-grade year, Manzano discovered he didn’t just enjoy running, he was also competitive.

“I didn’t win any races, but I finished second and third a lot,” he said. 

While some of his classmates might have been discouraged by not winning often, it didn’t bother Manzano. 

“It inspired me,” he said.

The next two years in seventh and eighth grade at Marble Falls Middle School, Manzano began winning first-place medals. He continued earning the awards through high school, college and now as a professional runner.

But he traces everything back to those early years and laps around the primary school playground, he said.

The Olympic athlete said running alone didn’t get him to the pinnacle of athletic competition. Before he could really concentrate on the track or course, Manzano had to concentrate on his studies.

“School is really where it’s at. School and sports really go hand in hand,” he said. “If I hadn’t done well in school, then I wouldn’t have been able to do sports.”

When he graduates from the University of Texas in December, he will not only be the first person in his family to have earned his high school diploma but the first one to get a bachelor’s degree.

Running has literally taken him around the United States and the world. Not bad for a kid from Granite Shoals, some might say.

In August, Manzano competed in the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. On the last day of his trip, Manzano even got to see the Great Wall of China.

Making it from the primary school playground to the Olympic track came about because he set goals, Manzano said.

“You have to set goals,” he said. “You need to write them down. And make sure they’re realistic.”

As he aims for the 2012 summer Olympics, Manzano told the students he has outlined several other track meets he will compete in during the next year or two. For each of those, he wrote goals.

“Those are my smaller goals which build toward the main goal of making the Olympics in 2012,” he said.

Manzano said he didn’t rise to the top of his sport by himself. 

“There were a lot of people along the way,” he said. “There will be people there to help you as well.”

Before leaving the school, Manzano led the third- through fifth-graders out to the very same playground where he started running laps. And then he took one more lap along with the students.

“Running has taken me to places I would have probably never been able to go,” Manzano said before heading to the playground. 

“But you don’t have to love running. But you have to find something you love. Find your passion and pour yourself into it.”

daniel@thepicayune.com

Photo by Daniel Clifton