A story in today’s Elkhart, Ind., Truth details the running career of Timothy Serafino, the son of Greg and Cari Serafino (he’s pastor at the Grace Brethren Church, Osceola, Ind.). Timothy, who ran at Elkhart Christian and Jimtown high schools as a student, just tackled his first ultra marathon (100K), in spite of having vision problems. A portion of the story appears below. Click here for the complete article.
Ex-Elkhart County runner Timothy Serafino not letting vision issue deter him; instead, he’s tackling ultra-marathons
Timothy Serafino has come a long way since his first long-distance run.
“Between my eye condition (retinitis pigmentosa) and having my eyes dilated earlier that day, I was having trouble seeing,” Serafino remembered of his junior high effort. “We were running at the old Hoke Tree Farm in Goshen and I wasn’t real familiar with the course. About halfway through, I hit something and got knocked down, so I got up and apologized to what I thought was a person because we really hit hard.
“That’s when my coach, Allen Lollis, came out and told me I’d run into a tree. Thankfully, he ran alongside me the rest of the way.”
A 2008 Jimtown High graduate, who spent three years at Elkhart Christian running cross country for Lollis and Peter Casaletto, before finishing his career in both track and cross country for Jimmie coach Joe Linville, Serafino ran his first ultra-marathon on New Year’s Eve in Alcoa, Tenn., just outside Knoxville.
So what’s an ultra-marathon? Try 100K or just over 62 miles.
What’s even more stunning is, Serafino, 27, who now lives in Ohio, is slowly losing his eyesight due to the retinitis pigmentosa. When he trains at dusk, he’s forced to run with flashlights in his hands and a light on a helmet so he can see.
“It does add an interesting component to my running,” Serafino said. “Even though the ultra-marathon started at 8 a.m., it was long enough that I had to finish the race with the flashlight and headlamp because I have trouble seeing in the dark.”
Despite the hardship, Serafino finished 10th in the race with a time of 12 hours, 33 minutes.
Click here for the complete article.