Paul Hammond

A truly exciting, explosive runner.

Paul Hammond began running at an early age. His family was always very running-oriented growing up. His brothers, Ken and Brad, would race around town and his father would run/walk with him while he cried because he could not keep up. Kenny was relentless, challenging him to Ken Cooper's 12-minute test, goading him into trying out for the cross country team when he got to high school, telling him it would get him in shape for tennis, and then convincing him that he could move up from last man on JV.

All he had to do was run a lot and do as many pushups and situps as he could every day. Paul started to follow this regimen faithfully, the summer after his freshman year when Kenny went off to Bill Squire's cross country camp. When Kenny returned from camp and Paul outkicked him to win the first race of the season things really heated up. No longer did Kenny have to run around telephone poles waiting for him to catch up.

In his senior year, Westbrook was the Class A state cross country champions, beating Cheverus. Paul graduated from Westbrook with PRs of 9:29 for the 2-mile his junior year, when he was state Class A champion and 6th at New England's, and a 4:21 mile his senior year, when he was state Class A indoor and outdoor champion.

He followed brother Kenny to Bates College where Coach Walter Slovenski had allowed him to run their cross country race his senior year of high school. With his mom and dad having gone there and with a tradition of strong distance runners under Coach Slovenski, Paul knew going to Bates would be challenging both academically and athletically.

His freshman, sophomore, and junior year indoors he ran the following: Mile in 4:08.5 (Bates College record), 1500 meters in 3:55.7 (Bates College record), 1,000 meters in 2:31.37 (Bates College record), distance medley relay in 10:07.8 (Bates College record - anchor leg) and the 4x800 meter relay. He also ran the 3,000 meters his senior year in 8:20.36, also a Bates College record.

In outdoor track he ran: the steeplechase in 9:10.4 (Bates College Record) and the 1500 meters in 3:49.10 (Bates College record). As his Bates College Senior Athletic Citation reads, his accomplishments in track and cross country are best illustrated by his participation in NCAA Division III national championships: He participated in all four NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships. Twice he earned all-American honors, once in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and once in the 5,000 meter run. He also participated in the 1980 NCAA Div. III Cross Country Championships and again was selected to the All-American team. Paul won seven individual state meet championships.

His favorite meet ever was the January 31, 1981 state meet when he out kicked Doug Ingersoll to win the mile and then kicked from way back to beat Bob Brown at the wire to win the 1,000 meters. At a party that night his future wife finally decided that he might be more than just a dance partner for her and they started to date!

Another memorable meet his senior year was one where he outkicked Todd Coffin, his main adversary for the past 25 years to win the New England Division III indoor 3,000 meters in 8:23.2 (meet and MIT field house record).

After graduating from Bates, Paul worked at the Auburn Athletic Attic and race directed the Solstice Strut. Averaging 100 miles a week in training, he ran his 14:19 5-K PR out kicking Doug Sweazy on the Bates indoor track to win the Demers Track classic 5,000 meters. When he started road racing that spring, he consistently ran 23:30s for 5 miles and 29:30s for 10-K. He set a PR of 23:19 at the Agawam 5 Miler chasing Hank Pfiefle in vain the night Bruce Bickford set the American record.

Racing in New England at that time was exciting. At any race he could be racing against the Kimball Brothers, Andy Palmer, Steve Podgajny, Bruce Bickford, or Bob Winn just to name a few. Some were friends, some just competitors and but many were people whom he admired.

Paul then moved to Massachusetts, got married, saw his wife through the end of law school, had two children (Bobby and Caroline), and went to law school himself at night. He has never stopped running voluntarily, though if you ever want to discuss injuries, he has had his fair share. Paul prides himself on his resiliency though not necessarily for the self-control or wisdom to avoid getting injured in the first place.

One of his favorite running stories comes from Bostonfest in 1984, in his marathon PR of 2:21:31. Running with the lead group very early in the race, Mark and Dean Kimball and Vin Fleming took off and he started to go with them. Andy Palmer grabbed his singlet, pulling him backwards, asking him what he was doing. "I was going after them Andy, we can't let them get away."

“They are fools, Paul, just stay with me," Andy said calmly, "It's a long race." Andy won it in 2:16:25. They ran together for 13 miles when he turned and said: "I'm going to take off now," and then he ran everyone else down in the last 1/2 mile. Another favorite race was the Portland Boy's Club, when he outkicked Stan Bickford to win the Portland Boy's club race.

Paul has four brothers-in-law, all of whom are good runners. Their families get together very regularly, and he has not had a lack of training and racing companions. He runs on the Whirlaway Racing Team. One brother-in-law, Doug Martyn, has gotten so into running that he joined Paul on the Whirlaway Racing Team and together with Craig Fram and Mike Cooney they set the World Masters 4xl600 Relay Record of 17:44.35 on Feb. 9, 2002. Doug also ran with him some when he turned 40 in the 2000 Boston Marathon, where he was the 6th master in 2:29.04, and went with him to New York this past year to run the indoor nationals (where he ran a 4:26 mile).

Paul's versatility, records, and longevity are truly remarkable. He will surely continue to inspire and add to those records for many years to come!