Running As a Work of Art
By Doug Carroll
Like Captain Ahab pursuing the great white whale, Atlanta native Walter Cumming for years set his sights on qualifying for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon. By his own account, he was fanatical about it in the 1980s, even choosing a college because its location at altitude might accelerate his progress as a runner.
Although Cumming ran the Boston Marathon 10 times and could cover a mile in 4:23, his marathon best of 2 hours and 34 minutes fell about 11 minutes short of the Trials standard at the time.
Now, at age 66, he has reached the Trials in a different way – as an artist.
Cumming’s design of a limited-edition print will be presented to every participant in the Trials. And the sculptural skill of another artist and runner with Georgia ties, Stan Mullins, will be seen in the unique medals presented to the top 10 men’s and women’s finishers.
The connection between athletics and the visual arts comes naturally to both artists.
Mullins, 55, has completed dozens of marathons, and has had a studio in Athens, Georgia, for the past 30 years.
“To me, athleticism and artistry don’t just happen – you’ve got to work to get there,” Mullins said. “You can’t fake a marathon. I want [my art] to make people look deep inside themselves to give it all they’ve got. If I can bridge these two passions of mine, that’s fantastic.”
Connections at Atlanta Track Club led to the commissions.
Cumming is close friends with Atlanta running legend Jeff Galloway, and had worked with Galloway on a T-shirt design for the 50th Running of the AJC Peachtree Road Race in 2019. The design, “50 Years of Olympians Inspiring Atlantans,” featured nine athletes – including Galloway – who had won the Peachtree and also qualified for the Olympics. Although the design was not chosen the winner by public vote, the Club took note.
“As a runner, I understand form and anatomy and wanted to show runners in motion,” said Cumming, who was a teammate of 1987 Peachtree winner Joseph Nzau at the University of Wyoming (elevation 7,165 feet) and also studied at Rhode Island School of Design. He was an award-winning artist for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution for 28 years and now lives near Asheville, North Carolina.
“Most artists aren’t runners,” Cumming said, adding that the Trials print “has to connect to what the sport is about. It also has to say Atlanta. I think it’s a strong design.”
Mullins, a high school friend of Brantley Sherrer, the Club’s senior manager of event operations, created a 14-foot-long Mizuno running shoe called “The Next Step” for the 50th Peachtree. A second version of the shoe, “The Next Big Step,” will be on display at the America’s Marathon Weekend Experience. His statue of legendary University of Georgia football coach Vince Dooley, which depicts Dooley being carried on the shoulders of two players, sits outside UGA’s athletic complex.
Mullins, who has two degrees from UGA, said he used the medal design for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games as inspiration for the Trials medals.
How many hours did he put in?
“That’s like asking an athlete how long he or she has trained,” he said. “It’s really your whole life. It sounds cheesy, but it’s true. It’s all an education.”