Andy Johnson

Year Inducted: 2021

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Andy Johnson began his running career at the age of nine as a Kettering Strider under the mentoring of coaches Steve Price and John Contestable. He continued running both cross country and track in high school for Dayton Christian as a freshman and sophomore and then for Beavercreek as a junior and senior. As a senior, Andy was a member of the BHS cross country team which placed third in the OHSAA Division 1 state meet. In 1990, Andy won both the 1600m and 3200m at the Dayton Division I Districts and went to the state meet in the 1600m. He also won the 1600m at the 1990 OHSAA Regional championship.

 

In addition to his success with his high school team, Andy competed internationally between the cross country and track seasons of his senior year. In December 1989, Andy was selected to be a member of a USA Sports Exchange Program team where he ran three road races of varying distances in ten days in and around Munich, Germany.

 

After high school, Andy enlisted in the US Marine Corps and did not return to road racing until the early 2000’s. It was during this time period that he met his wife (Wendy) of 25 years.

 

When he did return to the local race scene, there was no doubt he was back. He has been a consistent Ohio River Road Runner Club (ORRRC) team series member and competitor.

 

As a Masters runner, he is a formidable participant. Specifically, he was the 2012 ORRRC 1-Mile Masters Champion with a time of 4:38 and a top 15 finisher at the 2012 Carlsbad 5000, known as the world’s fastest 5K.

 

When not running races, Andy is a frequent aid station volunteer at ORRRC road and trail events.

 

Andy was a Dayton Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) Track & Field Coach f o r t e n y e a r s alongside Coach John Agnew for youths aged 8 to 12 years. He continues to support all  aspects of Dayton running from encouraging his own children’ s successes in their BHS and collegiate running careers (daughter was 2018   BHS State Team Champion, son  earned 2017 BHS 800 m 6 th place finisher at OHSAA State meet and was a 2 - t i m e   A l l - A m e r i c a n a t Ashland University)  to motivating fellow ORRRC members Ta r a a n d K a r a Storage to achieve O l y m p i c   Tr i a l s Qualifying standards as their primary training partner.

 

A list of Andy’s PR’s and notable race performances include: 1600m (4:22) 1990 Cedarville indoor track meet

… 3200 (9:41) 1990 Troy Invitational

meet … 1 mile (4:35) 2010 ORRRC 1 Mile … 5K (15:48) 2010 Patterson Park 5K … 5 mile (26:20) 2009 ORRRC

Turkey Trot … 10K (33:34) 2010 Minster Oktoberfest … 15K (52:00) 2008 ORRRC Spring Valley … 10 mile (55:46) 2008 Little Miami … half-marathon (1:13:55) 2009 Dayton River Corridor

Classic … marathon (2:57:56) 2008 Yuengling Shamrock marathon.