Alumni Spotlight: Running The Race With Ridley Holmes

Class of 2016 alumnus Ridley Holmes made history earlier this year by being the first Live Oak student to run the Boston Marathon.

Over 100 years old, the Boston Marathon is one of the most historic races in the country. Athletes must qualify for the race with a competitive time of three hours and five minutes. Running the BMW Dallas Marathon in just two hours and fifty-six minutes, Ridley ran well under the qualifying time. Ridley trained for each marathon by running an average of 45 miles per week.

Ridley began his career as a runner at Live Oak. His passion for long-distance running began with competing as a Falcon in both football and cross country. He is now a junior at Baylor as a Baylor Business Fellow majoring in Accounting.

In April of this year, Ridley flew to Boston with his mom Dawn Holmes, a Live Oak teacher in the Grammar school. Mrs. Holmes commented, “I really enjoyed the whole Boston Marathon experience. The city does an amazing job of supporting the runners and the atmosphere is truly unique. I’m so proud of Ridley… His passion for running and his dedication is such an inspiration.” Ridley also expressed his joy of the experience. “It’s a beautiful race, it’s a fun race, it’s a lot of history. I’m just excited to be a part of it.”

Ridley is already training for the 2019 Boston Marathon. He commented, “It seems like the type of thing where once you start doing it, you’ll do it forever.”