Small stature, Big dreams-Demarley Johnson

Nineteen year old, long distance runner, Demarly Johnson is a 2011 scholarship recipient of the UWI Mona. He hails from the parish of St. Catherine where he grew up with his grandmother then relocated to live with his parents. Upon his parents’ separation, however he remained with his mother. He attended the Lucky Valley Primary School where his interest in track and field began to develop. His coach at the time steered him in the direction of long distance running as he realized the ability that lied within him.

Demarly indicated that his ability to run may be attributed to the fact that after living in the district of Omealy he had to walk and run to school for three miles and described the experience as one filled with unfavourable terrain. He ascribed his early track and field training to the hills and valleys of his journey to and from school. In his reflection today, Demarly is grateful for these experiences. His sojourn at the Lucky Valley Primary School, saw him being successful in his Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and as such he moved on to get his high school education at the Charlemont High School. His Track and Field career continued where his focus was on his specialty in long distance races.

In Grade 7 he became the class three ‘champion boy’ in Cross Country 400m, 800m, 1500m and 3000m. This achievement would cause ‘the jaws of anyone to fall’. That was just the hallmark for the things in stored for this young man as he continued to compete in these events up until his third year at Charlemont High School. Demarly indicated that he was not pleased with the training program at Charlemont High School which reflected poorly on their performance at the annual Boys and Girls Championships. As such he transferred to St. Jago High School in the same parish to pursue in dreams in Track and Field. One may say that should not have been the reason for a student at his age to want to switch schools but Demarly had high hopes and was desirous of excelling in the Track and Field arena.

The marathoner’s entrance into St. Jago was not all he thought it would have been as he competed less in that year. What contributed to this was the fact that he met upon what seemed to be drastic changes his training program which made the transition a bit more difficult. As he began to hone his own skills in fifth form, he ran in class one at the National Boys and Girls Championships against the Long Distance prince, Kimoy Campbell of Bellfield. Demarley placed 10th and Kimoy went away with the gold that year. This did not deter Johnson as he went on to sixth form still holding on his goals of becoming successful in track and field.

According to Demarley a passion for road racing developed and as such his endurance, techniques in the sport improved. He recalls running in the High Mountains 10K, the Reggae Marathon and the Burger King 10K in lower six. These races were all fruitful in building his reputation as a long distance runner. Demarly participated in track meet which began in January 2010 where he performed well throughout the season. He competed in Boys and Girls champs’ that year where he made the 1500m finals and finished in 9th. In the said championships he competed in the 5000m and came in 6th. Demarly recalled he would have performed better had he not tripped and fell. The fall pushed him farther back in the race and a greater effort had to be made to catch his fellow competitors. This to him was a moment of grave disappointment.

Demarly, again, had his eyes on the prize as while competing his first year in six form, he applied for a sports scholarship to the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus. The offer given to him was for part time studies due to the fact that he had not completed upper sixth and to his disappointment scholarships were not awarded to part time students. Johnson was then forced to defer his offer and went back to upper sixth at the St. Jago High School.

Johnson was behind for some of the year in his training due to ill preparation and a lack of motivation because he was over the age to compete at the High School championships level which was always his dream and ‘fuel to train.’ Upon recollection that he wanted a scholarship to the University of the West Indies and from motivation from his coach, Mr. Kidd, he started to train again. This was all for his favour and he went to the Reggae Marathon held in Negril in December 2010 and finished 4th in a half marathon of 13 miles. Demarly recalled that as a proud moment and his oomph and fervor came back to him. At this event, being proud of his performance and his achievement he approached Olympian Grace Jackson, long standing member of the UWI Sports Department, on the matter of scholarships. She referred him to Rashid Hall, who has the responsibility of seeking out young athletes such as Demarly for awards of scholarships. Rashid encouraged him to reapply;he did.

With things looking up for Demarly, he got more involved in track meets and other sporting event as he now realized that Boys and Girls Championships was not his limit. With his hopes high Demarly trained even harder and the sky was the limit for him. Johnson ran his personal best at the Queen’s Grace Jackson meet in 2011 with a time of 4:08 minutes in 1500m. The following week he went to the Camperdown Classics where he ran a race short of his personal best and won. The following Sunday he went to the Cross Country National trials in Manchester. At this event Johnson was told that he would not be able to compete in the classes that his other team mates would, due to his age. Hence, he had to now run with seniors. He was discourage and worried, even more so because track superstars were in attendance such as the renowned Shawn Pitter and Andrew Gutzmore.

Johnson had to fuel up some confidence and get his head in the race. The track star indicated that running these races is a mind game. One has to conquer the mind and even the body because they both tell you that one cannot achieve some things at times. So with this in mind Demarly went into his race. To his surprise he won the National Cross Country Championships. He marked this as his greatest achievement thus far in Track and Field.

Feeling quite accomplished, Demarly was in for an awakening when he went to represent Jamaica at the Nacol Cross Country in Trinidad. He was now enlightened as it relates to how fast he needs to run. He now realized that his competition is no longer Jamaica but the world. This event had persons from America, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, all the Caribbean Islands and More. He placed 27th in this race.

Demarly came back to Jamaica and represented St. Jago at the Central Champs. He finished 4th in 1500m and 2nd in the 5000m which he noted is his favourite race. Johnson was encouraged to get involved in the steeple chase races which he did. On his first attempt however, he stumbled as a result of a mishap between him and another athlete which resulted in him being injured for the remainder of the season. The young athlete indicated, however, that the accident did not cause him to lose interest in steeple chase events and he is in fact looking forward to getting involved in more steeple chase track events and embraces the challenge.

When asked how he balances his training schedule with his academia, Johnson outlined that his involvement in sports has taught him the importance of time management and helps him to study more as he knows that he has less time than his peers because when they go home he has to be training. Hence, his effort goes into maximizing his study hours to stay on par with his academic requirements and if he were to do this over again would not have it any other way as it is the challenge that motivates him. He recalled studying on buses while preparing for CXC’s so as to ascertain good grades and managed to do well in his CXC’s. At the moment Demarly pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in History Education at the University and is fascinated with the subject area, proven by the fact that he outline that the indigenous people may have been smarter that this generation. The Historian supported this by saying that even today many architects still ponder as to how pyramids are built without steel. That was a lesson in history from the track star.

He enjoys the experience living on Irvine Hall as his hall mates look up to him, although he is short stature and have high hopes of him bringing home trophies on the hall’s behalf. The track team is like a family for him and though he is new they are instrumental in his adjustment to this new environment and to the training program. His goals for the year is to retain the National Cross Country Championship title and to get involved in more steeple chase events for UWI though that will be something new for him. Also he hopes to qualify for more events and become a part of more teams in the upcoming year. He sees himself as limitless now and knows he will be able to achieve it.In his ‘five year plan’ he wants to teach history at the high school level.

Johnson acknowledges that his involvement in the sport has done him well. He has one sister in the army and though his mother and father are separated they are there for his support “This scholarship has taken a huge burden off my parent’s shoulders” he noted. The star now knows that he has to work hard to excel in both academically and in his sporting discipline. This is nothing to him but winning the mind game. We wish Demarly well for his season and his studies for the academic year.

Olivia Carter

UWI Sports Department Writer