Police asked Mike Beeman to stop. A bomb had gone off, and the race was over. He couldn’t see it, but he was only about 200 yards away from the finish line.
“It was up one street and down another, so I went through an alleyway,” Beeman said. “The buildings weren’t down, but the street where you finished looked like a warzone. There were bodies, legs, blood, and just chaos. They were just trying to block everyone out, but runners were still going around them.”
For the first time in years, his daughter had traveled to Boston with Beeman so that she could cheer on her father. She had parked at different check points throughout the race for encouragement, and the last time he saw her, was at the 20-mile mark. Not knowing the whereabouts of his daughter, Beeman panicked.
Cell phones weren’t working for about 45 minutes. But when they were, Beeman reluctantly found some spectators who allowed him to use their phone. His daughter and her company were okay. But that was all Beeman knew.
“I didn’t know where they were, I just knew that I couldn’t find them, and you’re in the middle of Boston, it’s Monday, it’s cold, it’s windy, so I did the logical thing, and I found a frat house,” Beeman said.
The members at the fraternity were able to comfort and assist Beeman until he was finally able to arrange a way to meet back with his daughter.
Beeman was in a rare group during the 2013 Boston Marathon. He had crossed the 40-kilometer shoot timer (24.9 miles), but not the finish line. Therefore, he was in a category of about 700 runners who had the possibility of being hit by the bombs.
Due to his distance location and a feature in the Boston Globe weeks before about his 36 consecutive Boston Marathons, Beeman was a prime target for notice. Because he wasn’t watching the event on television like the rest of America, he hardly even had time to realize the magnitude of the happenings before his social media blew up with little red circles.
“I had 193 friend requests, 500 messages, and 900 notifications, and it was just crazy,” Beeman said.
…
Mike Beeman, Tift County High School marketing teacher ran his 36th consecutive Boston Marathon during the year of the bombing. Currently, he sits at 37 and hopes to move on to 38 in April 2015. He holds the number eight spot for consecutive Boston Marathons. But what started this streak of 26.2’s at one of the most respected races in the world?
Back in the 1970’s, Beeman was a three sport high school athlete: basketball, track, and cross country. But like most athletes, had tried them all in the beginning.
“I didn’t like football because you got hit, so I chose cross country,” Beeman said “I think that was a big career choice. With baseball, I was batting about 194 and pitching ballgames losing 23 to 1. During my junior year, I switched over to track, and by my senior year, I was pretty good. I found out running was going to be good.”
Beeman continued to participate in basketball, track, and cross country in college. Dave Gilbert, current director of the Boston Marathon, was a cross country teammate of Beeman at the time. 
In 1977, Beeman traveled to Boston support Gilbert who had been training to run his first Boston Marathon.
“I said, ‘I will never watch this race again. I will be there next year. I’m going to qualify for the Boston,’” Beeman said.
Although he had just come out of a long basketball season, and hadn’t really been training at all, Beeman managed to qualify for the Boston Marathon that same year in less than three hours.
Every April since then, Beeman has been in that city on a hill. At 25 consecutive years, Beeman was no longer required to qualify; however, he didn’t realize that until after his 33rd Boston Marathon; therefore, he had qualified for every race until that point—that’s impressive. But now, at a less competitive pace, Beeman is able to enjoy running, the training season, and even the 26.2-miler itself.
Back in his competitive Boston days, Beeman would run 100-120 miles per week. Today he runs around 40 miles per week or 50 miles if it is marathon training season. Everyday Beeman will wake up around 4:30 a.m., go on a 5-6 mile run, and makes his way to TCHS around 7:15 a.m. On the weekends, he will go out for a long run of around 10-15 miles.
“I’m always in a good mood when I come to school because I usually run my mileage before school, and it allows me to do things with young kids that a lot of people my age couldn’t do like take batting practice with the baseball team, shooting baskets, or whatever it may be,” Beeman said. “I like that; I want to hang on to it as long as I can.”
It’s no doubt that students enjoy their time with Mr. Beeman too.
“He is the most interesting man in the world,” Zeke Dodson, THS student, said.
Mr. Beeman is not only intriguing because of his running history, but also for his array of other unbelievable stories. He taught Adam Sandler; he coached Brian Wilson in basketball, who is now the closer for the Dodgers; he coached Olivia Carpenski, now a professional model, in track. He was the strength and conditioning coach for the Celtics when Larry Bird graced the team. He went to the Olympic Trials in rowing. The list continues.
His students agree that if you name the topic, he can tell a story about it.
“He tells us stories, and if you’re listening, by the end of the story, you’ve gotten a life lesson and didn’t even know you were getting one,” Madi Honeycutt, THS student said.
Beeman agrees that, on top of marketing, he is also a life teacher. More so than any medal or trophy in his closet, he takes pride in his ability in helping students be the best that they can be.
South Georgia/November 2014/Special Feature
Written by: Sarah Turner
Photography by: Micki K Photography
A role model, friend, and finisher of 37 Boston Marathons
