Well, That Stinks!

Running takes a seat, way, way, way in the back of the bus that is sports journalism.  I noticed a change in that the last couple of years when the Fort Myers New-Press started doing more profiles on local runners and more stories on road races, cross country and track and field meets.  When I asked News-Press editor Ed Reed why the sudden love fest with running and he just smiled.  Ed said two words, Cory Mull.

It turns out the man leading the charge for high school sports coverage at the News-Press was a big fan of running.  I let Ed know and Cory how much I appreciated the sudden wealth of coverage the sport was getting.  Cory, true to his passion, even started showing up time to time to takes part in our Wednesday night interval workouts at Cypress Lake High School.

Cory Mull at the track

Cory's passion was evidence.  One night he sidled over to me totally geeked out that one of the women running the workout was a one-time Footlocker finalist, pretty heady stuff in the world of high school running.  Cory had covered the one-time phenom when she was in high school and he knew I would be just as psyched as he was by her presence.

I was lucky enough to work freelance over the last year for Cory and the News-Press.  He helped me tremendously with my writing and my story telling.  I'm a pretty good television writer but writing for print is a different beast.  Cory has those chops in spades.  His guidance and spot on critiques meant the world to me.

But as often happens, good things come to an end.  Cory leaving Southwest Florida for the mean streets of Austin, Texas.  He's taking his love of running to a whole new level.  He'll be covering the running scene in one of the country's hottest running communities.  It makes me sad because I doubt that we'll see a News-Press reporter scrambling around the local Turkey Trot and I suspect our high school track and cross country meets will receive a little less love.

Here's to Cory Mull and to his next adventure in journalism.  May his passion for running carry him to even bigger opportunities.