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Coach Eby Inspires His Student-Athletes by Competing at the Highest Level

By: Erin Madden

BEREA, Ohio - Every year since 1998, Baldwin Wallace University Coordinator of Cross Country and Track and Field Joe Eby has run a sub-5 minute mile.

This year, he kept his streak alive while also adding to his resume.

Eby competed in the 2022 Guardian Mile on July 23 and won the Masters Competitive division in a time of 4:38.53.

“I don’t race very often,” Eby admitted. “For a couple years in a row, I was just doing a Thanksgiving Day race. Then COVID kind of shut that down. That streak ended but I also have a streak of every year since the spring of 1998, I’ve broken five minutes in the mile. Last year, I used the Guardian (Mile) as my ‘I’m going to go break five minutes and check that box for the year.’ So that was a big reason why I wanted to run it last year and another reason why I wanted to run it this year.”

In its fourth year of existence, the Guardian Mile takes place on the iconic Hope Memorial Bridge in downtown Cleveland with runners crossing the finish line in front of Progressive Field - home of the Cleveland Guardians. Eby competed in the event for the first time in 2021, placing fourth overall in the same division he won this year.

“There’s a bunch of people that I know that are in charge of the race and so I’ve known about it for a couple of years,” Eby said. “The date has never matched up very well. Then, last year, they moved it into July and I was able to run it and really just enjoyed it. It’s just a really cool event in how they put it on so I definitely wanted to do it again this year because I raced well last year.”

Several current and former Yellow Jackets were on hand to see Eby’s victory, including graduate assistant coach Jay Mixdorf, volunteer coach Alesha Vovk, assistant professor Patrick Ledwidge, alumni Isaac Wilson ‘20 and Spencer Mahon ‘19. All five competed in the Open Community Mile with Mixdorf leading the way in a time of 4:24.87 for a 13th-place finish in that division.

“That’s part of the fun of the event is that people are lining the road and you’ve got a bunch of people cheering for you,” Eby said.

Several high school coaches and recent college graduates were inspired by Eby’s performance and told him so after the race. Meanwhile, Eby hopes that his current Yellow Jacket student-athletes will also be inspired to continue running after their collegiate careers have ended.

“I’m hoping that it just shows that running can be a lifelong endeavor and that you can keep doing it for a longer time,” Eby said. “I hope it inspires them to want to continue to get better and work hard.”