At 60 years old, Glenn Webb laces up his shoes after a 12-hour workday, not because he feels like running, but because he’s disciplined enough to do it anyway.
“If I rely on motivation alone, I’m going to be average,” Webb said. “Anyone who has ever done anything worthwhile or has value to them has found the value in discipline.”
The power of owning the mind was not an overnight revelation to Webb but a mentality developed through years of training.
“I was always athletic but only ran when playing soccer, which continued into my adulthood until I was sidelined with a back injury,” Webb said. “It affected my ability to walk, so, as a field biologist, I couldn’t do my job. So, I had back surgery.”
Webb said he was reluctant to get active after surgery in fear of reinjuring his back, causing him to develop unhealthy habits and gain weight.
“I wanted to get back into biking but was afraid because of the back posture,” Webb said. “I spoke with my back surgeon, who suggested running, so I started a running club at Meadowlane Elementary.”
Senior and cross-country runner Jayden Collins said he found his love for running in the Meadowlane running club.
“I was in running club all the years that I was there, and that really sparked my interest in running,” Collins said. “Without it, I don’t think I would be running right now.”
Webb’s influence on the club allowed for runners like Collins to learn how to be disciplined at an elementary school level.
“Doing running club at a young age introduced me to the discipline it takes to get up early and run every morning,” Collins said. “Cross-country is one of those sports where if you don’t start young, it’s hard to keep a love for it.”
When Webb started the club, he said he could barely keep up with the kids.
“At the beginning, I could just jog the 100 meters straight, and then I had to walk the curve and then jog 100 meters straight and walk the curve,” Webb said. “I could get in maybe a mile before I had to stop.”
By the end of the first year, Webb was able to complete his first 5K race, finishing with a time of 41 minutes. He continued to progress until hitting a plateau in 2018, causing him to fall back into unhealthy habits, reaching 245 pounds.
“I was overweight and wasn’t feeling good about myself,” Webb said. “So my wife and I decided we were going to exercise and diet with a purpose.”
Webb said he lost 50 pounds through exercise and dieting, simultaneously kickstarting his love for the sport.
“I found this addiction to running and exercise, and so I went from 5Ks to 10Ks and then ran my first half-marathon back in 2019,” Webb said. “I’m a very social person, and when COVID-19 hit, gatherings were limited. This was a good thing for me because running was one of the only things I could do.”
This addiction led him to continue his training and eventually beat his old half-marathon time on a long run. Webb completed his second half-marathon in 2025 where he ran alongside coworkers Austin Downie and his wife Margaret Catrambone, Dawn Gregor and Joseph Estevez in the Space Coast Half Marathon in November.
“We didn’t all plan to be there because it wasn’t a West Shore event,” Downie said. “Seeing everyone on race day was fun and looking for them while on the course was very cool.”
Downie said this event helped him gain a deeper understanding of the sport of running while getting closer with familiar faces on campus.
“They say running is an individual sport, but when you are surrounded by your coworkers, it feels like a team,” Downie said. “We’re out there cheering each other on, sharing techniques and supporting each other’s growth.”
With mind-power and staff support Webb has found over his running career, he said he has his eyes set on a full marathon as his next goal.
“The peers that I have developed within the running realm coaxed me in by saying, ‘Hey, let’s try something harder,’” Webb said. “I also began to push myself more and more as I got comfortable with the uncomfortable.”
Dedicated to this new task of completing a 26.2 mile long race, Webb said each step in his journey has shaped him into the runner and man he is today.
“If you look at me, nobody would say, ‘he’s a runner,’ but I don’t have to be a runner to them,” Webb said. “My discipline says I am a runner, so I have to continue to work to be a runner.”
