The Cam Run: A Memorial 5k for Colton's Old Teammate

I’m excited to run tomorrow in The Cam Run: Cameron Bean’s Memorial 5K.

When I got to my freshman year of high school, there were a few guys on the Baylor School Cross Country team that I looked up to. Two of those men were the Late Van Townsend, head coach, and the Late Cameron Bean, team captain.

Going into high school, my goal for cross country was to get in shape for wrestling. But very early, my perception of running changed, and I attribute that change of mindset to those two great men.

Van and Cam made the idea of being a runner cool! They would put in many miles and have fun doing it. So my goal was to try to be just like them. Another thing cool about Cameron was that he was a wrestler too, and you don’t see many runners that are good wrestlers, also.

After Cameron graduated, Van would always use Cameron as an example for the type of runner to be. He’d say that Cameron wasn’t all talent; he was full of hard work and a lot of guts! He’d tell me that if I put in a lot of miles and fight as hard as Cameron did, I would be competitive.

One of the famous runners that Van would always tell me about is Steve Prefontaine. His famous quote that I try to live by and have preached to all of the athletes that I have coached over the years is “To give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift.”

“Resilience” is the perfect word to describe Cameron “Magnum” Bean. He pushed himself in everything that he did. He lived life to the fullest. He never gave anything less than his best. He never sacrificed the gifts that he was given. He was always respectful human-being and a great role model to emulate.

I am grateful to have had him as a teammate and look forward to running for his team once again in his memorial 5k tomorrow morning!

https://www.camrunchattanooga.com

Colton Popp, DDS