Lehigh University Athletics
Welsh '99 to re-capture Paul Short glory on Friday
10/1/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
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Welsh was not prepared for what he thought was just a little cross country meet taking place at his school. He would quickly learn just how big of a deal the Paul Short Run really is.
“It wasn’t the size that was overwhelming,” Welsh said. “It was just the amount of teams that came from all over the country. The quality of the teams was way better than I expected it would be.”
Now, nine years after he graduated from Lehigh, Welsh will be returning to campus to make his own mark in the famous race. He will be among the hundreds of runners competing in the men’s open race on Friday, one of 12 races that make up the Paul Short Run. The day’s events begin with the men’s collegiate brown race at 11 a.m. and continue throughout the day.
When Welsh got his first taste of the race in 1995, he was a freshman hurdler for the Lehigh men’s track and field team. He had run cross country in high school, but never figured the sport into his collegiate plans.
A few years later, Welsh decided to compete in the steeplechase, a 3,000 meter-race where competitors also have to jump over hazards on the track. He knew his stamina was going to be a question, and the only way to build that was to start running longer distances.
So Welsh walked on to the cross country team, where he competed with current men’s cross country head coach Todd Etters, who was a freshman runner for Lehigh. In 1998, Welsh got to try out the Paul Short atmosphere as a runner instead of a volunteer, and it did not disappoint him.
“The best part was – coming to the finish – there was a picture of me with a UVA runner on one side and a
Overall, the Paul Short Run was a great experience for Welsh, because he set a personal-best time of 26:55. He said the setup of the course and the energy from the race allowed him to run the best race of his life at the time.
While cross country was a tool for Welsh to train at Lehigh, it is now becoming part of his life. He owns Haddonfield Running Company, which operates three running stores in
Welsh also continues to run in road races and marathons whenever he has the chance. He has so far competed in marathons in
The goal for Welsh now is to finish the Paul Short Run in the ballpark of 25:30, nearly one and a half minutes faster than he did in college almost a decade ago. He will have some extra motivation to impress his former teammates and coaches on homecoming weekend.
“It’s my chance to come back and kind of show the coaches how much I’ve improved,” Welsh said. “I want to prove a point, that I may be getting older, but I’m definitely not getting any slower.”
The other motivation will be to re-enact that photo from 1998, as he passed runners from the best cross country programs in the nation.
“I have a buddy who’s coming up to race from Villanova this year,” Welsh said. “I’ll be looking to get past him this time.”
