NORFOLK, Va. — Not everyone has the desire or discipline to run a marathon, let alone 27. I guess you can say, Rock Eason is built differently.
He has dedicated many long hours to his training, but also to the running community. In fact, Eason keeps a lot of our local races running smoothly and safely.
“He is first class and cares about the community. He cares about the runners,” says Jerry Frostick, co-owner of J&A Racing.
You can bet if there has been an event by J&A Racing, Eason has had a big hand in making it happen.
“2000 I think was when I started volunteering with them. So, I have been with [J&A] since 2000,” says Eason.
Eason is in charge of coordinating and overseeing all of the “course marshals.” They are the individuals who keep runners on track and traffic out of the way.
“If something was to happen, we have somebody, a course marshal, on site to be able to render aid and call for help if needed,” Eason says. “Just being somebody out there to say we are here to support you and to help you if ever needed.”
Depending on the race there could be between 20 to over 100 court marshals. It is Eason’s job to organize them all and work with the local police departments.
Eason says planning starts months before the race takes place.
The conversations with local partners and agencies come easy for Eason as he’s a retired police officer himself.
While his history on the force is quite impressive, what’s more impressive is his heart.
In 2016 he donated his kidney to his former partner in the Virginia Beach Police Department, saving his life.
“I [had] just retired. So, I thought well, ‘what the heck - I'll get tested.’ I got tested, and I was a match. I donated a kidney to him. And he is doing well,” he says. “It was a blessing to do that. I felt really honored to do it."
As a runner myself, I can say the entire running community is honored to have a champion like Eason behind every mile.
“We try to make it fun - that is the main thing. We try to make it fun for runners, volunteers, and staff as well,” he tells me.
For that reason and more, Rock Eason is a News 3 Everyday Hero.
“I’m just very thankful and appreciative. It’s a team effort. It's not me, it's all of these guys here. [They] are the ones who really deserve all the credit because they support me [and] they lift me up.”
“He not only is very important on race weekend and the buildup, but just it's an honor to call him friend,” says Frostick. “As you can tell, he doesn't like self-attention and he never gets it. So, thank you all for taking the time and recognizing someone that really sincerely deserves this.”
