In His Own Words: Sean O'Linn

Jan 23, 2014

As a very young child, my body developed at a rate that substantially exceeded my peers. At 7 months I started walking on my own without any assistance. After only one year, I started running.

My Childhood was far from a fairy tale though. At the age of four, while running across wet playground equipment, I slipped and hit the back of my head. That afternoon, I experienced my first seizure. After an ambulance ride, I found myself in a hospital bed, half paralyzed. . I was subjected to a series of tests at numerous hospitals and clinics, while my family anxiously waited for the results. When my paralysis eventually subsided, the doctors were amazed and puzzled. In the years that followed, the terrifying seizures returned and I was finally diagnosed with epilepsy. The doctor made clear my childhood wouldn't be quite the same as other children: I would not be able to participate in most sports and learning would be more challenging for me than for my peers. The First time I was introduced to the sport was back in 2003 when my brother and sister competed for Nease High School. I use to love to watch them run and told my parents that I wanted to be just like my older siblings when I attend high school.

My running career started during my freshman year of High School. During my Freshman Cross Country and Track season I was one of the slowest runners on the team. The seniors use to always pick on me and said that I would never be a great runner. It eventually escalated to the point where they gave me the nickname “ Sean Pot” named after the Austin Philpot (the slowest senior who ran on JV for part of the XC season). The seniors said the only way I’d lose the nickname is if I beat every single distance runner on the team. I was so enraged that during my freshman summer, I trained every day. Which brings me to the point where I tell you how I met my Current coach.

My Freshman Summer was the first year that PVHS attended Brevard Distance Runners Camp. On the camp’s opening night Adidas brought Todd Williams (Olympian, 15k American record holder, and a Jacksonville resident) to talk about his struggles and what it took to become an elite runner. He finished off by saying, “No Goals are Impossible and I believe that you can achieve whatever you put your mind to.” Those words stuck in my head throughout all of Sophomore XC Season. By the time track rolled around, I was the fastest runner on the team, set 2 school records, 3 Sophomore records and was top 35 in the state for the 3200m.

My success didn’t last forever though, at districts during my sophomore year, I was rank 2nd, but found myself in the back of an ambulance at the end of the race due to Mesentnic Adenitis. During my Junior XC season, I broke my foot at mile 1 of Katie Caples (our first run of the season).

I worked with JOI rehab and was cleared in February to participate in Junior track season. Coming back from breaking my foot was defiantly ruff. Our new assistant distance coach saw what I was able to achieve my sophomore year and started pushing me too hard, too soon. My foot injury during Cross Country season also took away my chance to establish a base. So, I almost only ran the 4X800 except for a few exceptions including one 800m race. My senior summer was full of change. Change that I wasn’t quite ready for yet. In June, the Cross Country team received the news that our Head Coach (James Thomas) who coached me since my freshman year would be resigning.

I didn’t really have the best relationship with my new XC coaches that replaced James Thomas. They are both amazing coaches but, they just weren’t the right coaches for myself. I found myself week after week plagued with injury from overworking. One of my coaches even compared me to a rundown racehorse.

With the constant injuries and overworking, I forgot what truly made me love this sport. I forgot what made me a great runner. I forgot what fuel lit my burning passion to prove others wrong and achieve amazing results. So, I decided to turn my jersey in, take some time off, and search for why I love this sport.

One day when I was out on a long run it hit me, Todd Williams. I thought wouldn’t it be amazing to be able to train with the man who motivated you to run well your sophomore year. After all, without him I would have never been a great runner and would have never found the fuel that lit my burning flame to achieve amazing results.

So, I called him and set up training appointments. I have been training with him since October, been injury free and runner faster than ever since. My race at Jimmy Carnes didn’t go quite how I expected it too. I was put in the second heat and was boxed in for 3 out of the four laps. It was the first time I ever ran indoor so it was a great learning experience.

As of right now, I’m on track to break both 2:00 for 800m and 4:25 for 1600m at our next meet. My goals for this season are sub 1:53 for the 800, sub 4:17 for the 1600, and sub 9:15 for the 3200m. I’m excited to show everyone what I can do this year and hopefully I can earn my spot with the elite runners. Until then, I’m proud to be an underdog again!

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