Wes Seeley Story

Just Another Runner’s Story May 2023 Written by Gale Fischer 

Running’s Free Insurance Policy

“Injury makes the comeback sweeter.”

Statistics tell us that as we age the health risk associated with cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other ailments increases. Falling victim to conditions such as these may lead to catastrophic events such as a stroke or a heart attack. Modern medicine has increased the survival rate of many of these conditions and events, with pharmaceutical drugs and surgery, but even with these advances one may have a lengthy rehab time and full recovery is never a guarantee. A precursor for these conditions for many is a life full of unhealthy choices and years of health decline. One does not have to smoke cigarettes, indulge in fast food daily or develop obesity to fall victim to many of these life threatening ailments however. Nothing is guaranteed and even being physically fit does not give one full immunity from disease. What being physically fit can do in these circumstances however, is increase one’s survival rate and decrease recovery time. This month’s featured runner, Wes Seeley, is proof of this.

Wes participated in little league baseball as a youngster but beyond this he did not participate in organized sports. His first real experience with athletics and running came in his forties. “I started running in 2008 at the age of forty two. At the time I had lost some weight. I had been able to shed pounds a few times in the past but had always managed to gain it back.”

Wes finally decided that he was approaching a fork in the road and that he needed to not only lose some weight but also maintain and keep it off. “I was at the age when several members of my family had developed diseases such as diabetes and high blood pressure.” The incentive to avoid the health issues that some of his relatives were dealing with provided the motivation for Wes to become more physically active with a program that some of the students at his school were participating in, helping him decide what activity would get him there. “I was a principal at East Elementary in Comstock. We had a Girls on the Run (GOTR) team so I decided to make a goal to run the 5K with them.”

When Wes began his running journey he ran alone initially but later would join his brother for some runs. “My brother had been running before I started so I eventually started running with him and a few other guys. We called ourselves MIT (Men in TIghts.)”  

A 5K was the first logical goal for Wes but it didn’t take him long to make a jump to a longer distance. “After running with the girls for GOTR I made a goal to run the Borgess Half. I ran the Borgess Half Marathon, my first half about a year after I started running. I also ran the Riverbank 25K that spring.”

The half marathon distance seemed perfect for Wes but peer pressure from his MIT group would plant the seed for a marathon. “The others in our group had started running marathons. I was feeling a little left out so I trained for my first marathon, the fall of 2010, the Veterans Marathon in Columbia, Indiana.”

The training that Wes had put in for the Veterans Marathon went well and he ran the first twenty miles on race day as planned, but eventually he would encounter a bump in the road. “The marathon went  well for the first twenty miles. I was on track to run three hours and thirty minutes but I had to stop to use the bathroom around mile twenty and when I started running again my legs started to cramp up. The last six miles were rough.”

Although the marathon bug didn’t hit Wes, he did complete another marathon. “A few years later I ran the Monumental Marathon in Indianapolis with my brother. I had planned on running the Kalamazoo Marathon a few years after completing the Monumental Marathon but injured myself and was unable to do it. I have run a few other half marathons since but really have not run many races.” 

Wes has developed a routine with his running that has fit in well with work and family obligations. He prefers to run early each morning before work.  “My routine has been to run about six days a week. I usually will run seven miles each day Monday through Friday and then try to do a double digit run on the weekend.” 

Through the years Wes’ running has consisted of a few days each week of going solo with the remainder of his runs as part of a group. He enjoys  the individual aspect of running but has grown to appreciate what the running community has to offer. While living in Portage and working in the Kalamazoo area Wes had become familiar with and run with others as part of Kalamazoo Area Runners. A new job opportunity a few years ago has allowed him to form new friendships and experiences as a runner in Battle Creek. “When I started working for Battle Creek Public Schools in 2013 I changed up my weekly running routine. I started running a few days a week in Battle Creek early mornings, shower at the YMCA and then go to work.”

Initially Wes would run alone in the early morning hours as he explored different running routes in and around downtown Battle Creek, but eventually he formed running partnerships with others in the area. “I met Dianne Morris through work who was also a runner so she and I would meet a few mornings a week at the YMCA.”

Running in a new city was a great way to break up his running routine, learn his way around the area he worked in and expand his network of peers in his sport. He and Dianne would eventually expand the early weekday running group. “In 2016 I started running one morning each week in Battle Creek with Gale Fischer. Eventually Diane, Gale and I would run together.” 

Dianne, Wes and Gale developed an early morning routine, consisting of seven miles most Wednesday mornings. Injury would disrupt the pattern now and then but the three remained a small group for the next four years before eventually expanding. Around the start of the COVID pandemic running in Battle Creek would have to be put on hold for Wes. He was working remotely from home and not making the daily twenty mile commute across I94. Once he reported back to work at his office Wes would again join his running partners in Battle Creek and around this time the group began to expand. Wes, Gale and Diane began to pull  other runners from a group known as Butt Crack Of Dawn (BCOD). Diane and Gale had been running with BCOD for a few years and the two invited others from this group to join the Wednesday morning trio. On a typical Wednesday morning a group of five or six runners will start out at the Battle Creek YMCA. Some will begin as early as five AM and then loop back at five forty five to pick up the remainder of the group. Wednesday morning is the stand by morning for Wes and his band of runners from Battle Creek but some will meet other weekday mornings. The group has become a tight knit family for Wes and everyone else. It has helped to strengthen the social component of running for Wes which is something that he truly appreciates. “One of the great things about running is you have the opportunity to meet so many people.” 

Any run is an opportunity for a unique experience but there is something about an early morning run before daylight that can bring out the unexpected. An experience that Wes had with Dianne and Serene, another member of BCOD, on an early morning run a year ago is a perfect example of this. “I was running with Serene and Dianne early one morning. We smelled smoke and could see it in the air. Soon we discovered a house that was fully engulfed in flames.”  

The trio quickly sprung into action. “After confirming there was nobody in the house, we flagged down a vehicle to call 911 since none of us had a cell phone. We waited for first responders to arrive then continued on our run.” Before returning to the YMCA to end their run, Wes, Dianne and Serene circled back to the scene to check it out. “While standing there, we encountered an older lady from the retirement apartment near the house that was on fire. She was in a wheelchair, trying to get to the fire. When we stopped to ask her how we could help her, we noticed she was only wearing a thin nightgown on this, a very cold winter morning.” 

One would think that this story could not be any more bizarre, but one more twist remains. “The lady immediately stripped off her nightgown and was sitting there completely naked. We calmly grabbed her wheelchair handles and pushed her back to her apartment, where we turned her over to the police who were waiting.”

Through the friendships made and the experiences had as a runner, Wes has dealt with some common setbacks and injuries. “I have dealt with typical running injuries including IT band tightness and foot problems. I was laid up with a leg stress fracture on two different occasions. Each time I was off running for six weeks. I once tore a muscle in my calf and was off six weeks. A few years ago I was running by myself early in the morning when I stepped on a walnut and broke my foot. This put me out of commission for about ten weeks.”

As annoying as these injuries have been for Wes, a medical issue that began for him late last fall has put things in perspective for not only Wes but also his group of running partners from BCOD. “In November of 2022 I was sitting in church the Sunday after Thanksgiving and I remember having the chills. I developed a high fever that day. The illness never went away but I tried to run through it.” 

Running through being sick is something that all of us have dealt with but this illness that Wes was experiencing began to impact his energy level, endurance and breathing. “I developed COVID around Christmas and was out for a few weeks for that. I tried going back to running after COVID but I would get so out of breath. My doctor thought that I was still dealing with the aftermath of COVID but I wasn’t testing positive anymore.”

Although a true diagnosis still hadn’t been confirmed, his medical team finally ran some tests that concluded that this was more than COVID or the common cold. “Bloodwork was showing that my iron levels were low.”  

Another follow up appointment revealed the exact cause of the physical issues that Wes was struggling with. “On January 12 I went in for a follow up visit and it was discovered that I had a heart murmur. My doctor ordered an echocardiogram. The earliest appointment for this procedure in Kalamazoo was two weeks out but I was told that I could go immediately to the hospital in South Haven to have the procedure performed. I decided to drive to South Haven rather than wait .”

The test provided a frightening diagnosis. “The echocardiogram showed that I had a damaged heart valve. My doctors said that this was caused by a blood infection. I had an accident on November 14 while hunting when the bow string snapped back and cut my lip. This is probably what caused the blood infection. I drove from South Haven directly to the ER at Borgess where they admitted me. I had open heart surgery on January 17 to replace the heart valve.”  

Wes’ active lifestyle was something he had in his favor but the longer he had waited for a new heart valve the more likely the possibility of a more dire outcome. He could have had a stroke without the replacement, something that his years as a runner would not have prevented.

Although a routine procedure, the open heart surgery would require a slow comeback to a regular routine for Wes. He would be placed under certain restrictions with work and obviously his return to running but he was given the green light to get up and move around throughout the day. “I was off work for four weeks. While still in the hospital I would walk some up and down the halls. After going back home I started walking outside and at the mall. Eventually I added distance to each walk, working up to four miles. After my six week follow up I was given the green light to come back to work half days and also do some light cardio on the stationary bike.” 

All of us with BCOD were obviously worried about Wes but at the same time his ability to bounce back and recover in a few short months inspired and impressed us. “Twelve weeks after my surgery I was given the ok to start running again. It has been a slow process going from running with walking intervals. About four weeks later I was up to four and a quarter miles without any walk breaks. The process continues.” 

With all that Wes has experienced as a runner and as a patient having gone through open heart surgery he has advice to offer for all of us to reflect on. “If you are going to be committed to something like running, you may have to work through some challenges even when the odds are stacked against you.”

Being away from running for an extended period of time has served as a reminder for Wes about what his sport means to him. “Being away from running has been difficult. I missed being outside, the lifestyle and the community.”

Wes’ story is certainly a reminder of how vulnerable each of us is. We can use running as an insurance policy for our health and well being as we age, but there is always a chance of a loophole in this policy. Wes is an example of how although being active can help to prevent the risk of illness and disease, there are never any guarantees. What being active can do is increase the odds to survive life changing health conditions and events while also decreasing the recovery time.

Everyone has a story.  Stay tuned next month for another runner’s story.