The next chapter in Alvin Harrison’s life involves redemption.
“I want to be the best father I can be to my son and daughter, and I want to bring glory to God through running,” said Harrison, who has lived in Hollister for the last three years and is the director of True Faith Events, which is holding a running and walking event called, “Run for Christ, Run to God”, on Dec. 21 in Hollister.
“The bottom line is I’m putting this together so people can run for Christ, and so churches around this area (from all denominations) can come together and be as one with our holy creator.”
Truth be told, there will be many people who doubt Harrison’s sincerity, given the egregious mistakes he’s made in the past. Harrison, 39, said he understands why people are reluctant to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“We all make mistakes, no one is perfect,” said Harrison, a member of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. Olympic 1,600-meter relay gold-medal teams. “You’re not going to be able to please everyone.”
Actually, there was a time when Harrison and his identical twin, Calvin, could do no wrong as they were once the darlings of U.S. Track and Field. In 2000, the Harrisons were the first twins to win gold medals together in a relay, and they were aptly dubbed the fastest twins in the world.
In 2001, the Harrisons co-authored a book, “Go To Your Destiny,” which debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show that same year. The book chronicled the lives of the twins’ amazing journey from poverty to fame, and how they overcame long odds just to stay alive.
Born prematurely to a 16-year-old teenager, Alvin was pronounced dead when Calvin came out two minutes later. Of course, Alvin started breathing again — “The breath of life was given back to me by my brother,” Alvin said in the book — and the twins’ remarkable story had just begun.
Raised by their grandmother, Lucille, a devout Christian, the Harrisons grew up in a rough Orlando neighborhood rife with drugs and violence, and they had to overcome tragic losses (one of their younger sisters was murdered in 1996), stints of homelessness (the twins lived out of their car in their late teens and early 20s), and a nomadic lifestyle that saw them move 11 times in a two-year stretch starting when they were 16.
And yet none of that was able to deter the Harrisons from leading North Salinas High to an improbable CIF State Track and Field Championship in 1993, and, subsequently, reaching track and field’s pinnacle, the Olympics, despite nearly throwing away their athletic gifts while competing for Hartnell College’s track team (in April of their freshmen year, Alvin was dropped from the team because he did not meet academic requirements, and Calvin was kicked off the team for failing to attend practice).
In addition to being an integral part of two gold-medal relay teams, Alvin was the silver medalist in the 400-meter run in the 2000 Olympic Games. If the story ended there, it would’ve been a finish that not even Walt Disney could’ve scripted.
Of course, life is rarely a fairy tale. In 2004, Alvin was suspended from racing for four years after admitting to steroid use. Five years later, Harrison did something that went largely unnoticed in the public eye but probably ruffled some feathers within U.S. track and field — he applied for dual citizenship to compete for the Dominican Republic, where he enjoyed a rebirth in his career.
Harrison was a member of the Dominican Republic’s 4×400-relay team that finished fourth in the 2010 IAAF Indoor World Championships. A professional athlete who admits to steroid use and switches allegiances to compete for another country is one thing, but what happened on the night of April 7, 2011, is something that most people would consider unforgivable.
That’s when a drunk Harrison — his blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.16, twice the legal limit — caused a crash while going 80 to 85 mph on Highway 73 in Orange County.
A day earlier, Harrison, who was the Gilroy High track and field coach at the time, had driven four Gilroy runners and an assistant coach to compete in the prestigious Arcadia Invitational.
Fortunately for Harrison, no students were in the Toyota Sienna minivan he was driving the night of the accident, but Calvin was, and what happened in the next several months has damaged the brothers’ relationship irreparably.
Harrison insists that it was Calvin who was the driver that night, not him, and that he hired an accident specialist who determined that Calvin was probably the driver that night. However, citing a number of extenuating factors, Harrison decided to plead guilty and spend four months in jail.
“That’s something I regret, putting myself in a situation like that,” Harrison said.
Having retired from professional competition, Harrison said he’s training professional athletes in the area and is on an on-call basis with the Dominican Republic, as he still does some consulting and development with the country’s Athletic Federation.
Harrison takes great joy in watching his son, Shraee, do amazing things on the track and the basketball court. A sophomore at San Benito High, Shraee has already displayed some of the athleticism and determination that turned his dad into an Olympian.
The younger Harrison clocked a 50.72 as a freshman last year in the 400-meter run in the semifinals of the CCS Track and Field Championships, and is one of the top players on this year’s basketball team.
The elder Harrison also has a daughter, Shiyah, 19, who lives in Aptos. Harrison said he’s looking forward to Saturday’s event, for the simple fact that it brings people together to celebrate running and Christ.
After all, it was Lucille who instilled in Harrison a love for Christ, and he counts his faith as the top reason why he’s been able to overcome all of the hurdles in his life.
“Without faith, I wouldn’t be here today,” Harrison said.
A portion of the proceeds of Saturday’s race will benefit the Hollister Youth Alliance and the Chamberlain’s Children Center. To answer his critics, Harrison said he can’t give an exact percentage of the proceeds that will be donated.
“We don’t want to commit to a certain percentage and then fall back on that promise,” he said. “We may make nothing, and hopefully we’ll break even.”
Despite his many shortcomings, Harrison said he’s learned a lot from his mistakes. Being in the public eye can be torturous at times, and no one knows that better than Harrison. But Harrison won’t look back on his sometimes much-maligned past, because true to from, runners aren’t necessarily running toward something — they’re running to something.
For Harrison, that means supporting and teaching Shraee life lessons; specifically, to not make the same mistakes he did, and to restore a once pristine image that has taken a hit over the years. With the exception of the drunken driving incident two years ago, Harrison said he has no other regrets in life.
Give Harrison credit for this: His rise from a near death experience–literally–is worthy of praise. Yes, he’s fallen many times since reaching the mountain top, but in the next phase of his life, he’s looking to reach the pinnacle again.
That means learning from all of the mistakes he’s made in the past and using them to create a better future for himself and those around him.
“I’m grateful for the experiences I’ve gone through,” Harrison said. “It’s made me a better person, a sound individual and even a role model. I’ve triumphed over adversity and responded to tough life situations. I’m not perfect, but I want to be an example to others, and I’m willing to work hard to do it.”
Notes: In Saturday’s race, participants can choose to walk or run a mile, 5k and 10k. In addition, there is a one-mile family fun walk. The start/finish line is Lad Lane between Kmart and Safeway. For more info, go to truefaithevents.com.
