USF Runner Wins Coach McGarity Five Mile Hill Run

“You’re at the top!" Lisa McGarity shouts to runners as they pass by her at the top of Indian Hill Saturday morning during the 43rd running of the Coach McGarity Five Mile Hill Run, formerly known as the Marco Island Five Mile Hill Run. "Woohoo! Fantastic! You killed it! You killed it! Yeah! This is a killer hill! Let the gravity take you down.”

McGarity is stationed atop Indian Hill in the same spot her husband Mark stood, doing what he did so well - encouraging runners. She’s even wearing his signature straw hat.

Indian Hill, in the heart of the estate's area of Marco Island, is the highest point in Southwest Florida at between 50-55 ft., according to Peakbagger.com. It’s the highlight of the run that was renamed to honor the memory of Mark McGarity, the running coach who was a legend at Lely High School and beyond.

It seems only fitting that this year’s winner, Nick Kamen, 22, a runner at the University of South Florida, was influenced by Coach McGarity. Kamen blazed through the course in 27.59, a full minute and seven seconds ahead of second-place finisher CJ Gustafson. Mylie Kelly, a 17-year-old from Beulah, Michigan, was the top female finisher, crossing the finish line at 31.52.

"I've been running in the community since I was in sixth grade,” said Kamen. “At the Lely meets and at county meets and stuff, Coach McGarity was always there, and he was always rooting for me. Even though I was running against his team, he was always just a super huge help, giving me pointers and stuff. And honestly, this race being in his name is perfect. I've always loved this race and them putting it in his name is probably exactly what he would have wanted.”

Lisa McGarity agrees with Kamen.

“My husband would coach opposing teams' kids,” McGarity said. “He’d say, 'It's about making all kids better runners and better human beings.' He was a firm believer that running made them better mentally, physically and just as humans. I used to wonder what he was doing. You know, you have your playbook, they have their playbook. But it wasn’t like that to him. That wasn't what it was about. He said, ‘If I can make that kid better, and that kid doesn't go to my school, so what?'"

McGarity and Kamen both feel the Coach McGarity Five Mile Hill Run is as tough a track as there is in Southwest Florida.

"I would say it is the toughest run in Southwest Florida,” McGarity said flatly. "These are very steep hills and it's a five miler, not a 5K, so that makes it even tougher. You go up Indian Hill twice, and there's many hills getting there. So I think it is the toughest, I really do.”

"I'd say this is probably up there with the most difficult ones in the area,” Kamen said. “Because you've got all those hills back there. You get through the first mile, you're like, ‘Okay, it's not so bad.' And then you get to all the big hills in the middle and it's definitely a struggle. But that's what running is about, right? It's about struggle."

McGarity shouts encouragement to each of the 306 runners as they reach the crest of the hill. She says she’s carrying on her husband’s legacy.

"You conquered it,” she shouts. "You're at the top. Woo hoo! Good job. You're at the top of the world.”

One runner asks, “Is this the steepest hill?”

“Yes, it is,” McGarity assures the runner as she clears the peak.

"Way to go,” McGarity shouts. "Way to push. This is a tough hill.”

Mark McGarity passed two years ago. Though she said time has made things a bit better, she tears up as she remembers the love of her life.

“When he passed away, Gulf Coast Runners said, ‘Now this is your place.’ And I agreed,” McGarity said. “It is the place for me, cheering on the runners at the top of Indian Hill. It means that my husband's legacy is carrying on. Many of these people knew him. And the benefit of the money going to his scholarship - and his name - to benefit kids who are runners just perpetuates the whole beauty of the running community. And that's what he was all about. He loved running. He loved kids. And this is kind of both. I’m carrying on the legacy. And I will continue to for the rest of my life.”

The Mark McGarity Foundation has raised more than $12,000 in scholarship money in the past two years. 

"We've given out more than $6,000 a year,” she said. “It goes to Collier County students, some from Marco."

McGarity is hosting a benefit on February 24 at the Marco Brewery from 3:00 PM to 7:00 PM.

"Charles Muntwyler, one of the partners for the Marco Brewery, was one of Mark's runners," said McGarity.

Another runner passes and shouts out, "Thank you, Lisa, for cheering us on.”

 "Oh, you bet,” she shouts back, "it's my job. It's my legacy. Way to go! You're at the top! You conquered the hill! This is the top of the world! Yay!” Then she says wistfully, “It’s the top of my world, anyway."