CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx — Assistant Police Chief Mark Schauer of Corpus Christi Police Department hasn’t taken on on 26. 2 miles of the Beach to Bay Marathon since before the pandemic.
“It’s the hardest race that I've done for a marathon, even though it’s pretty flat,” he said.
He’s making his return to Corpus Christi’s annual marathon this year for his fifth full Beach to Bay.
“When he passed, I had a shirt, a black shirt with his name on it, I still have it…So, I kind of dedicated that race to him. That was when I first started running marathons," Schauer said.
Schauer was talking about former CCPD Chief Floyd Simpson. He was killed in a motorcycle crash in 2015.
After that, Schauer decided to run in honor of his fallen friend. He did it four straight years at Beach to Bay. Every mile of every race, he makes sure to say a prayer for Simpson.
“I tried as much as I could to say a quick prayer because he was a friend and I really admired him,” Schauer said.
Schauer said even though they both competed to be police chief, they ended up becoming friends. Schauer has run the Beach to Bay Relay many times and even inspired Simpson to get back to marathon running.
“He was lifting weights or whatever, but then he said he looked at me training and said 'Hey I think I'm going to try.' So, he was training to do the Chicago marathon...And, I think he was good to go on it, he said his running was coming back to him,” Schauer said.
Whether it’s mile 1 or mile 16, Schauer has inspiration to keep going, by not just thinking about Simpson, but others who have served and passed on as well. He believes in mind over matter.
“This year we lost Officer Hicks, so I think so. I think prayer does a lot for me, personally. So, it’s a motivating thing," he said.
While Schauer has every reason to keep running, he said you still have to be mindful of the weather, which is typically brutal for runners every year.
As a message to his fellow runners, he said stay hydrated.
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