‘I will never run competitively again!’ Curtis Cox vowed. The disillusioned youth had just finished dead last in a 100 metres race at a primary school Sports Day Meet in his native Tobago. It was a promise he kept for his rest of his school life.
As fate would have it, this would change soon after leaving school.
“You see, my uncle’s wife used to go with a few of her friends to walk on mornings and I used to go with my cousin and we would basically be like bodyguards for them,” Cox recalled during an interview at the University of the West Indies’ St Augustine campus where he was training. At the time, Curtis, one of seven siblings lived with his uncle and aunt in Tobago.
After they finished walking, my cousin and I, would jog and I would run like four or five miles without getting tired,” he said. Fresh out of school, Cox decided to participate in the upcoming Guinness Tobago Half Marathon which was less than a month away.
So, less than a year after leaving high school, Curtis broke his childhood vow. He ran that event and placed 23rd overall. Thus, in 1986, at the age of 18 Curtis Cox began his career in long distance running.
Following his credible performance at the Guinness half marathon Curtis was approached to join one of the running clubs in Tobago and he eventually decided to tackle the upcoming marathon in Trinidad.
The race was gruelling, he said. “My main goal was to finish the race because when I reached 20 miles I said, that is it, but I continued jogging and I said to myself ‘I’m never going to run a marathon again in my life’,”
After his first experience at the marathon distance, what made Curtis return to this grueling distance?
Cox said a training run in Tobago changed his mind. “One day I was spending time in Speyside, Tobago and I got up one morning and decided to go for a run,”
“So I went for the run, then I reached Roxborough, then I continued running and I reached Mason Hall. The distance from Speyside to Mason Hall is about 24 miles,” he said. A marathon is 26.2 miles.
“After that run then I said maybe I am really good at this, because all that time when I was running people would say I was good but I was never really feeling it. But after I did that run I said I will continue with it,” Cox said.
The name Curtis Cox has become synonymous with local long distance running in Trinidad and Tobago. From 5K to Marathons, Curtis has put his stamp on the local scene, in a way that is yet to be equaled.
In 1989, Cox left Tobago to pursue his running in Trinidad because there were more racing opportunities there.
By 1991 Curtis placed third in the Trinidad and Tobago marathon. He however tasted his first marathon victory overseas some nine years later. He won his first marathon in Manitoba, Canada in 2000 with a time of 2:30:53 at a race where he barely arrived in time for the start.
Four years later in 2004 Cox posted his best time ever in a marathon when he clocked 2:21:10 in the Trinidad and Tobago Marathon. He came second in that race, being beaten by the Pamenos Ballantyne, the long-distance runner from St Vincent and the Grenadines, by a mere 20 seconds. Cox views Ballantyne as his greatest competitor.
Apart from missing the winning spot in that race by 20 seconds, Curtis also missed out on clocking a qualifying time for the Olympics. “One of my regrets is that I never went to the Olympics. It was just three minutes difference. If I went abroad and ran I would have qualified for sure because I did 2.21 in Trinidad which was a difficult course and those days I was running really fast over the distance,” said Cox. He dusted off all disappointment, and the following year, won the Trinidad and Tobago Marathon in a time of 2:24.
With 32 years of long distance running under his belt so far Cox’s longevity in the sport is noteworthy. Like any other athlete, Cox has overcome his share of injuries and setbacks. Just last year he suffered from a hamstring injury during the Maritime 5k and during the RBC 15k he suffered from food poisoning. However, some have speculated that performance-enhancing drugs are responsible for Cox’s longevity in long distance running.
Cox has heard all the whispers.
“There was a talk recently that I was on drugs because they are wondering what is keeping me in the sport so long,” Cox said with a tone of disgust. “I didn’t use drugs when I was younger why would I use drugs now? It hurts to hear people say these things but there is a God above and I know that I am not taking any drugs. The main thing is training hard, putting in the miles, being disciplined and dedicated. You have to be focused on your sport, that’s the key,” he said.
Cox hopes to continue competing in road races for a long time to come. Each year, he chooses which races he will participate in and trains for them accordingly. Cox said there are still some races that he wants to scratch off his to do list, such as the marathons in Boston and Dubai.
When asked about his ‘pet peeve’, he urged people to stop making excuses and go out and run for their own health and well-being.
“It is better you invest in a pair of shoes now than have to go to the doctor later and spend more money. Start gradually but the main thing is to start and be consistent,” Cox said.
“For those wanting to race it is easier now, you can just go on the internet and get all the information you need about training plans, before you used to have to buy Runners World magazine but now it is at your finger tips,” he said.