Running is different for Kalib Wilkinson these days, and yet, so much is still the same.
The 27-year-old Huntersville native has logged many miles since his days running cross country at North Meck High, but the next 13.1 miles he runs will be on his home turf, where he and his high school teammates honed the skills that made them back-to-back state champions.
Wilkinson will be among the runners competing in the Davidson Lands Conservancy’s Run for Green Half Marathon Saturday, beginning at 7:30 a.m. on the Davidson Village Green, and it’s his first local race since the Vikings won the 2000 and 2001 4A state crowns. Though he’s never raced in Davidson, he trained on the town’s streets and trails, so he’s familiar with the lay of the land.
“It is exciting to be back where it all started and be racing,” says Wilkinson, now a counselor at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va. “It will be nice to see the familiar sites.”
Now primarily a marathon runner, Wilkinson runs with a different mentality than he did when he only tackled 3.1-mile events.
“It’s much more spiritual for me,” he says. “Now, it’s a 26-mile long sanctuary where I can worship the Lord.”
Wilkinson does that mile by mile, by working his way through the alphabet and coming up with words to describe God, one letter and one mile at a time. In the first mile, he may think of the words “amazing” or “awesome,” for instance. That system presents its own challenges, though.
“I have a little trouble with X and Z, but by the time I get there, I have about two miles left and I’m not in my right mind anyway,” says Wilkinson.
Back in the day
Kalib Wilkinson doesn’t often think about his days running at North Meck, but sometimes, he can’t help himself.
“Every once in a while, I’m reminded that we really did that,” he says.
The Viking boys’ teams of 2000 and 2001 were the best in the state’s largest classification and won the 4A meets at Charlotte’s McAlpine Park.
In 2000, Viking Stephen Haas, who went on to run at Indiana University and is currently a pro, won the individual title with a 5K time of 15:12, while teammates Jeff Gosselin (15:36), John Wadsworth (15:48), Wilkinson (15:54) and Mike Mitchell (17:09) also counted toward the team score of 71, which beat runner-up Mt. Tabor (90).
The 2000 team was coached by Brad Herbster, who once operated a running store in Davidson. He later coached at UNC Charlotte and is now on Clemson University’s staff.
“He brought a bunch of guys together who fell in love with running,” says Wilkinson.
In 2001, the Vikings, coached by Ian Smith, were even more dominant, despite the fact that Tabor’s Matt Debole won the individual championship (15:01.63). But the Vikings totaled 38 points, a score more than twice better than second-place Chapel Hill (82) and one that has never been matched in 4A boys’ state meets.
All five scoring Vikings finished in the top 16, including Gosselin (2nd, 15:17.92), Wilkinson (4th,15:27.48) and Wadsworth (7th, 15:47.86) who were in the top 10, and Jason Ballard and Mitchell who were 15th and 16th, respectively.
Members of the team have remained close over the years and have a tradition of taking a run together, often at Latta Plantation, when one of them gets married, as sort of a “last run with the guys.”
“Every time we get together, it doesn’t feel different at all, like it was just yesterday,” says Wilkinson.
In fact, after Wilkinson runs this weekend’s half marathon, he will join his former teammates for such a run. How far will they go? It’s usually between four and 10 miles.
“It’s up to the groom,” he says.
This time, Wadsworth is the man taking the plunge and making that call.
Next steps
Wilkinson was among five North Meck students who entered the U.S. Air Force Academy together after finishing high school in 2002. Gosselin was also in that distinguished group, and he is currently an active duty Air Force pilot.
Wilkinson spent three years in the academy, then served two years of active duty. It was while stationed in Albuquerque, N.M., that he ran into former marathon world record holder Khalid Khannouchi during a workout. Khannouchi told Wilkinson that he had good form and should give marathon running a try.
“I’m just going to follow the world record holder’s advice,” Wilkinson told himself.
And he did, finishing as the second American in a marathon in Phoenix just weeks later. Earlier this year, he ran the Boston Marathon in 2:19:53.
His hope is to qualify for the Olympic Trials.
While in high school, Wilkinson never had much interest in running marathons, but he found that running one is often just the natural next step for runners, who are constantly asked two questions by non-runners: what is your mile time and have you run any marathons? So he gave it a shot.
“The first one went well, and I just fell in love with it,” says Wilkinson. “Ever since then, I’ve been trying to improve and enjoy it.”
Now, he’s sponsored by the running shoe company Brooks and completing a marathon-like loop that brings him back home to Mecklenburg County this weekend.
“It’ll be cool to be back in town,” he says.
