Running has been a passion Manuel Barnes shared with friends and family for years, but that bond has taken a unique turn with his daughter, Jessi.
The 59-year-old Barnes and Jessi, 26, have switched roles recently.
For years, Barnes served as a supporter, cheerleader and sometimes coach for his youngest daughter in her competitive running endeavors.
Jessi, who was a state champion at Bentonville and ran collegiately at Baylor, is still running competitively, but has also taken over the role as coach for her father on the track.
About 10 years ago, the idea of Manuel competing in the Senior Olympics appealed to both of them.
“I’m not sure who had the idea first,” Jessi said. “I kinda started pushing him a little more. It’s a way for me to give back.
“It’s really been fun. He’s always been so enthusiastic about my experience. He’s really surprised me. He has a lot of guts when it comes to racing, which is something I learned from him.”
Just In Time
Barnes followed his daughter all over the country throughout her running career, and those trips aren’t without some humorous times.
The best was when the elder Barnes was headed out to the University of Washington to watch her in January 2008. It was snowing in Fayetteville and a connecting flight out of Dallas was canceled.
With some work, he found a different flight going through San Diego and arrived in Seattle just 45 minutes before race time.
“I abandoned the rental car and my luggage and hailed a cab,” Barnes said. “I was holding up a couple 20s and I told him there would be a big tip in it if he got me to the University of Washington quickly.”
Barnes made it just ahead of the gun and his daughter ran a personal best in the 5,000 meters that day.
He usually videotaped all of Jessi’s races but wasn’t able to tape that one since he left the camera in his luggage at the airport.
Dad’s A Champion, Too
It’s worked out well for the elder Barnes, too, as he’s been a state champion multiple times in various events and also competed in two National Senior Olympics in the 800 meters, an event he’s run since high school.
He just missed the finals in 2009 but finished ninth in 2011 at nationals.
He shared a lane with the defending national champion in his second trip to nationals. He took his daughter’s pre-race advice.
“She came over and said ‘I got a couple things. You’re sharing a lane with Horace Grant,’ and I said ‘OK,’ and she said ‘Let him go’ and I said ‘No problem,’” Barnes said.
“It’s a two-lap race, and I could hang with him the first lap, but then it would be over. But I was able to squeak out ninth in the country.”
An injury kept him out of this year’s Arkansas Senior Olympics and also kept him from qualifying for nationals. But it’s not kept him from doing something he loves.
Matter of fact, he and Jessi ran the Bass Pro half marathon in Springfield, Mo., together a few weeks ago. Jessi won the 25- to 29-year-old age group, while Manuel accomplished his goal of finishing in less than two hours in the 13-mile race.
Bonding On The Run
Jessi laughed when asked about them running together.
“It’s just kinda the way it’s always been,” she said. “It’s very cool. It’s just what we do. We have a mutual interest in running and it’s fun.”
Manuel ran with Jessi when she was a teen, competing in AAU meets and even during high school and college.
He even recalled going on a 13-mile training run with her and the rest of the Baylor Lady Bears cross country team once.
“When I tuckered out, the sign was for me to raise my hand, and the coach came by in the van and picked me up,” he said.
Now, they run together five or six days a week. Neither believe that’s going to stop. It just might have to be altered at times.
Jessi is still running competitively, and her training might call for a little more serious pace at times. But that doesn’t matter.
“We might go out at a certain pace that we both can handle, but I can sense she’s got to go faster and I’ll tell her ‘Go for it, I’ll catch up,’” Barnes said. “I’m really very proud of her.”