TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The world's best cross country runners are arriving in Tallahassee ahead of the World Athletics Championship, inspiring local high school athletes dreaming of Division 1 scholarships.
- Many athletes arrived at Tallahassee International Airport Thursday to compete in the World Athletics Cross Country Championship.
- The championship races begin Saturday with gates opening at 7:45 a.m.
- Watch the video below to hear from a local high school cross country runner and his coach.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
I'm Justin White, your neighborhood reporter here at the Tallahassee International Airport, where the best cross country runners on the planet are arriving from all over the world to compete in the World Athletics Cross Country Championship.
And they're inspiring the next generation of runners in Tallahassee to compete on the world stage.
"I mean it's great. I mean, I bought the tickets around November when I saw it at the state meet. I was like, 'I gotta go see my idols,' you know?" said Eric Garcia.
Eric Garcia runs track at Godby High School, and he competed at the state level for cross country.
He tells me running is his passion and his dream.
"My dream is to get a Division 1 Scholarship, and help my parents get citizenship, and also be out there doing my job: running," said Garcia.
Saturday, Eric will get to see his idols compete in person, and he told me, one day, he hopes to be like them, running on the world stage.
"I'm going to go ask for a signature. Hopefully just keep it as a goal, so one day I can sign a shirt or something for a kid just like me," added Garcia.
Former pro runner Leander McKenzie is Godby's Head Cross Country Coach and also ran track at FSU. He says he's excited to see this international event so close to home.
"To finally get a significant event like the World Championships here locally, it means a lot.I think we've been waiting this, This community has been waiting on this for a long, long time," Coach McKenzie.
He says it's also a special experience for his athletes.
"The opportunity for our kids to get out and witness this event and to be able to put it in their scrapbooks, you know, something as a memory that they can take for years to come," added Coach McKenzie.
We're now almost one day away from the championship races. The gates open at 7:45 a.m. on Saturday.
From the Tallahassee International Airport, I'm Justin White, ABC 27.
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