By Gary Fitz
Nashua Telegraph Staff Writer
Many former athletes reach middle age with more than a few
regrets. If only they had trained harder, eaten better or been more
careful about preventing injuries, how much better could they have
been?
At Nashua High School in the mid 1980s, nobody was faster than
Barney Borromeo. If he got by you on a soccer field, you had no
shot at catching him.
The same was true on the track. A state champion sprinter, he had
plenty of college interest and wound up accepting a scholarship
offer from Penn State. Missing his close-knit family, he returned
after one year, and spent some time at Southern New Hampshire
University before eventually settling in at the University of New
Hampshire.
Borromeo still owns the 100-meter dash record for the Wildcats.
His 200-meter record fell just a few years ago. As a senior, he led
the UNH men to one of their best track seasons ever, a second-place
finish at the New England championships.
Still, Borromeo looks back at injuries that kept him off the track
as much as he was on it. The chronic hamstring problems; the time
he missed because of an injury playing indoor soccer.
Now 41, Borromeo doesn't just reminisce about his glory years on
track. He still sprints.
A month ago, he won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes in the
Masters Division of the Bay State Games, setting meet records in
both events.
His 100 time, 11.65 seconds, is about one second slower than his
school record time at UNH, where his old coach, Jim Boulanger, is
still one of the his biggest fans."Back then he was amazing, but I
wasn't sure he had that kind of love for track,'' Boulanger said.
"I think a few years ago he realized how much he did love it and
what a great way it was to keep fit.''
Borromeo, who now lives in Middleboro, Mass., got into competitive
weight lifting for a few years, but there was something
missing.
"It just wasn't the same from a competitive standout,'' Borromeo
said. "So I started to run again, at first just to stay in
shape.
"Then it was a matter of how far I could take it.''
As it turned out, all the way to San Sebastien, Spain, where
Borromeo finished 11th in his age group in the Masters World
Championships four summers ago. He was the third ranked American
that summer.
He returned to competition in 2002 and won a national championship
in the 60-meter dash a year later at age 35. In 2003, he was ranked
sixth nationally in the 100.
He took some time off between 2006-2008, following the births of
his four-year-old son Braden and daughter MacKenzie, who turns two
in November. Borromeo returned again last summer to win his age
group in the 100 at the Bay State Games.
Borromeo says it's a lot more difficult to compete now than it was
to compete then, but it's worth it.
"In college it took a couple of hours to recover after a meet,''
Borromeo said. "Now it's a couple of days. Back then, I'd take my
sweats off and I was ready to run. Now I warm up for about 90
minutes before a race.''
There are plenty of people still competing, some still putting up
amazing times. The most amazing of all is probably 48-year-old
Willie Gault. The former Chicago Bear wide receiver currently owns
world records in the Over-45 division in both the 100 (10.72) and
200 (21.80).
Borromeo, meanwhile, still thinks he has another sub-11 second 100
in him. And he's enjoying track more than he ever did.
