Marc McGeary stepping up his running

“Marc-y Marc is the crème de la crème of the team, the glue that holds us together. He’s always enthusiastic and motivating, never missing an instant to encourage both the upperclassmen or first-years. His words of wisdom are both uplifting and sentimental. He is a poet of sorts; a modern day Walt Disney Whitman,” said junior teammate Benjamin Nealy.

Junior distance runner for men’s track and field, Marc McGeary started running in ninth grade. “I was fat and slow, literally 5’5” and way overweight. I finally manned up and got serious sophomore year and dramatically lost 30 pounds from eating right, running more, and joining the wrestling team,” McGeary said. Although he started running in 2005, McGeary did not begin running competitively until 2007.

On the track, McGeary hopes the team will win Outdoor UAAs. “We came in second at Indoor UAA’s to Washington University, St. Louis. Outdoors is at our track this April; we will drink WashU’s blood during our victory laps,” McGeary said. He would like to run 4:05 in the 1,500-meter run, break 2:00 in the 800-meter run, and make his first UAA squad.

McGeary is a business administration major in the general management track with a focus in finance and marketing. This summer he will be interning for The Hershey Company in Hershey, Pa., where he will be doing internal auditing for its finance department.

McGeary’s current claim to fame is his presence in a Mac Miller music video. “I literally ran into Mac Miller filming ‘Party on Fifth Ave.’ in Blue Slide Park. I knew Mac was filming in Pittsburgh, but had no clue where, so we roll up there during preseason — myself, first-year Joe Pane, Matt Kusbit, junior Benjamin Nealy, and sophomore Nathan Cheek — and see these people in old person suits with a couple cameramen. As we pass, I told my teammates I’m pretty sure that is Mac Miller. Not five seconds later, Mac comes up alongside us running and his cameraman follows. Two months later we were, not surprisingly, stoked to see our half-naked bodies all over MTV and YouTube with Mac Miller running alongside us,” McGeary said.

McGeary is a fourth generation Tartan. “My parents, grandfather, great-grandfather, and my great-uncle, who was a blind musical prodigy in the College of Fine Arts, went here. My mom ran track here with the men since they didn’t have a women’s team. She also was on the first women’s buggy team, always saying how much of a ‘pioneer’ she was,” McGeary said.

McGeary appreciates all that Carnegie Mellon does for its athletes. “The most rewarding aspect to being a CMU athlete is getting to do what we love to do at a high level. A lot of kids at D-III schools don’t have nearly what we do in terms of coaches, facilities, and amenities. My brother ran cross country and track for Duquesne (D-I) and they don’t get or have nearly what we do in terms of the above list. He has always been jealous of us,” McGeary said.

As well as being appreciative of the university, McGeary is grateful for his teammates. “The brotherhood and bond between the team is the greatest part. My best friends for life are on the team and it’s special to experience that type of relationship everyday for four years,” McGeary said.

“Marc is truly a gentlemen’s gentleman. He has persevered through several difficult seasons, and is now emerging not only as a leader but a potential top runner for the team. Despite his awful dancing, he is universally loved by his teammates,” junior teammate Graham Shorr said.