Nick
had to work until his senior year in high school. He then went out for track and
in one short year had an impressive record. He set the Westerly High School Record
for the mile at 4:35.08. They ran 12 dual meets and finished a ½ point
behind powerhouse Classical for the state division championship.
After
high school he ran for an AAU club in the mile and 1500 meter. Although not his
distance, he once ran the Boston Marathon at 3:24:32. At Manchester, CT in 1987
he ran 26:25 for about a 4¾ mile race. He was running even with a girl
named Karen Smyers and finally pulled away from her at the finish. Karen went
on to become a world class professional triathlete, winning the Hawaii Ironman
and the Triathlon World Championship.
Nick
ran other races such as the Lawrence Memorial and the Elks, where his best overall
finish was 4th. His PR's include: 5K- 16:41, 4mile- 22:23, 5mile- 27:56, 10K-
34:55, and 15K- 54:55.
Nick
wanted to give something back to the sport so he help establish SNERRO, Southern
New England Road Race Officials. He always works with Tom McCoy on the fun runs
and puts on the Nick Bottone, Sr. timed track mile. He helps out with other local
races such as the Shoreline Biathlon and the beach run.
Nick
feels his best race was the Manchester race but he feels his greatest victory
came at the age of 52 when he married his wife Barbara.
(written
by Buddy Grills (July 2006))
