Drew Bell Earns Additional All-American Status At Cherry Blossom Event
MADISON- The year of spectacular feats continues for Madison’s Drew Bell. The 57-year old, longtime track coach at James Clemens High has again celebrated his unbroken string of fabulous personal achievements by chalking up his 11th All-American performance in 2023 by posting a time of 1:15:58 at the 50th anniversary of the Cherry Blossom National 10-Miler held in Washington, D.C.
Bell competed in the prestigious event knowing full well he was not in top physical shape suffering from a pulled right hamstring and a left foot stress fracture. He said, “The hamstring was certainly an issue for me, but I wanted to see this through, and my finish time was not I wanted as I was trying to run a 1:05 in the race. I limped the whole way. It wasn’t the most fun outing I’ve had as I had a special wrap on my leg the entire race.”
His 1:15 finish time was six minutes under the All-American Standard time for the 10-miler for the 55-59 age group.
“I am hurt, tired and completely worn out mentally, spiritually and emotionally,” said Bell upon his arrival home from the Capital City. “It’s time to rest and heal.”
No time for tired as Bell will next tackle the America’s Half-Marathon Trail Run Championship set for May 21 in nearby Pelham at Oak Mountain State Park. The race offers prize money for the top runners and continental championship titles in age group categories ranging in ages from 15 to 90. The race also will provide Trail Run World Championship qualifying spots to the top four finishers in each age division, which Bell hopes to make. The 2023 World Championship will be held at Sugarloaf Resort in Maine later this year. Bell has the laid-out plans to make it to the Pine Tree State.
“Right now, it’s time to rest as it’s been a heck of a journey so far in 2023 participating in all of these running events,” said Bell. “I encourage everyone to have a journey in their life. Deal with the journey and be successful.”
On the same day Bell was earning another All-American honor, his son, Jase, was setting another step in his own personal journey by participating in the Bridge Street Town Centre Half-Marathon. The 24-year old former top-notch runner at James Clemens High where he ran for the school’s team while his father was head coach finished sixth overall out of 1,107 participants with a time of 1:20:25. The young Bell was second in the male 20-29 age division and averaged running 9.8 miles per hour. His time qualified him for the New York City Marathon, a race he has tried to qualify for, but never set a time good enough to qualify for the Big Apple race. The marathon is scheduled for Nov. 5 and is the largest marathon in the world.
“What a day it was for the Bell family,” stated the elder Bell. “Just being there in D.C. with all the history was a great experience for me and hearing on how Jase qualified for New York made it an even better day.”
