鈥淭hat鈥檚 Robbie,鈥� says Al Fereshetian.
Fereshetian, head coach of men鈥檚 cross country and track and field at 乐播传媒, was talking about Rob Gomez 鈥�05 and the acclaim his former runner has earned for creating a defining moment at a prestigious Maine road race on Aug. 5.
With the finish line of the 10-kilometer TD Bank Beach to Beacon race in sight, Gomez slowed up to help a stricken fellow runner, Jesse Orach, get up and finish the race. Grimacing as he steadied Orach鈥檚 nearly dead weight, Gomez kept Orach, who was suffering from heat stroke, upright as he lurched the last few yards.
Although the pair were running in 22nd and 23rd place overall at the time, the stakes were still sky-high: Whoever finished ahead of the other would win the coveted men’s Maine-resident division of the race. And as they came to finish, Gomez stopped short and let Orach literally fall into first place. Then Gomez walked over the finish line, second.
Rob Gomez ’05 speaks to the Maine media after the Beach to Beacon on Aug. 5, 2017. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)
The win was Orach鈥檚 second straight in the Maine division. For Gomez, who lives in Windham, the runner-up Maine finish was his best in 10 tries.
For helping the fallen runner, Gomez is being widely praised as a standup guy, and his deed 鈥� call it smart sportsmanship 鈥� has sizzled through social media and the news media.
The has been shared 643 times, prompting 5,895 likes/loves/wows and attracting 229 comments. An Associated Press story has run in all 50 U.S. states and been seen by millions of readers.
Context matters, and this wasn鈥檛 your typical community road race filled with baby strollers and dogs. Founded by Olympic-gold marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson, the Beach to Beacon attracts 6,800-plus runners each year, including Olympians and world champions who headline the 35-runner professional field.
鈥淩ob respects and honors his sport,鈥� Fereshetian says. 鈥淗e knows exactly who he’s racing against.”
And Gomez and Orach, both native Mainers, weren鈥檛 chugging along in 4,001st and 4002nd place, either.
Orach, a 2017 graduate of the University of Maine, was one of New England鈥檚 best college runners, and Gomez has been a top Maine road racer in recent years. He won the 2013 Maine Marathon and has two top-40 finishes at the Boston Marathon.
鈥淩ob was running very, very well,鈥� says Fereshetian. 鈥淗is time, 31:31, is very fast.鈥�
Coming around a final bend before the home stretch, Gomez only had a second or two to see that it was Orach on the ground and even less time to decide to pull him up. Still, his decision was an informed one.
Stopping just short of the finish line, Gomez releases Orach. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)
The pair nears the finish line, Gomez grimacing as he guides Orach. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)
Rob Gomez '05 (right) helps a faltering Jesse Orach as they near the finish line of the Beach to Beacon on Aug. 5. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)
Orach tumbles over the finish line to capture first place in the Maine-resident division of the race. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)
鈥淩ob respects and honors his sport,鈥� Fereshetian says. 鈥淗e knows exactly who he’s racing against. He and Jesse had just met the day before, but Rob knows exactly who Jesse is, and he know Jesse鈥檚 not just some guy he鈥檚 running next to.鈥�
Like many great competitors, Gomez is a student of his sport. 鈥淕oing into the race, you understand the runner鈥檚 body of work. You understand what he鈥檚 done,鈥� Gomez says. 鈥淛esse had a very good spring track year at UMaine. He was the favorite, and I was maybe his best competition.鈥�
The race played out that way. 鈥淭he first mile, I stuck with him,鈥� Gomez says. 鈥淭hen he pulled away. As a runner, I鈥檝e done enough of these to know that it wasn鈥檛 going to be my day.鈥�
Gomez looks at it this way. 鈥淛esse鈥檚 performance needed to get the respect that it deserved.鈥� Had Gomez passed Orach by, the result would 鈥渉ave been a hollow victory. I would have lamented the fact that I had won; it would have left a bad taste had I won in that manner.鈥�
Since Saturday, Gomez has played out other scenarios in his mind. Of course, he鈥檇 have 鈥渘o problem beating the pants off him in normal fashion.鈥� And if the two had been neck and neck, 鈥渋f I had fought to be that close, and if it was my race to win, I would have won it鈥� and let Orach fall by the wayside.
鈥淏ut within 100 yards from the finish [helping him] was the only thing to do. Because I believed, and still believe, that he had won the race.鈥�
鈥淩ob deserves a medal for what he did, but knowing Rob, he鈥檇 never wear it.鈥�
Gomez has downplayed what he did, telling WCSH-TV that 鈥淚鈥檓 just a normal representative of what the Maine running community is all about,鈥� and telling the Portland Press Herald that 鈥渕aybe they don鈥檛 carry someone, but everyone wants others to succeed.鈥�
Though he professes normalcy, Gomez does run to the beat of a different drummer, and he鈥檚 well-known for his distinctively generous, intense, and modest demeanor. As Samuelson told me, 鈥淩ob deserves a medal for what he did, but knowing Rob, he鈥檇 never wear it.鈥�
鈥淗e鈥檚 very intense and focused about everything, and he was also one of the biggest supporters and cheerleaders for everyone on our team,鈥� says Mike Downing 鈥�05, a fellow runner at 乐播传媒 who now owns on Maine鈥檚 Upper Shin Pond.
And while generous acts like Gomez鈥檚 occur on occasion in road races, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not going to happen in most running races,鈥� Fereshetian says. When it does happen, 鈥渋t鈥檚 usually the result of the people and personalities involved,鈥� Fereshetian suggests.
Rob Gomez ’05 runs for 乐播传媒 as a sophomore in 2002. (Daryn Slover for 乐播传媒 College)
In that sense, “Rob was a tremendous teammate who cared deeply about the guys on our team,鈥� Fereshetian says. 鈥淎nd I’m sure his teammates would say there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for them.鈥�
Downing agrees. 鈥淩ob is a great person and friend, and what he did has to do with the person he is.鈥� In other words, the choice to help Orach is not a one-size-fits-all decision. 鈥淲hile it鈥檚 hard to say what I would have done, I would have probably decided to win the race and let the medical staff handle the situation,鈥� says Downing. Alluding to the fact that runners can be DQ’d for helping or being helped, Downing believes that approach would be “the fair thing to do for everyone involved in the race.”
To be sure, Gomez鈥檚 deed probably reflects a mixture of Gomez鈥檚 personality and the culture of long-distance running, which is marked as much by camaraderie as by solo effort.
Beginning in high school and continuing to college, runners, especially cross country runners, “gain a strong sense of team,鈥� Fereshetian says. After college, 鈥渋n open road races, the only way to get that fellowship and that camaraderie is to recognize that in some form or another, that competitor next to you is your teammate, too. And I think that Rob carries that with him.”
A native of Waldoboro, Gomez majored in chemistry at 乐播传媒 and was inducted into the Sigma Xi scientific research society as a senior. Today, he鈥檚 senior manufacturing engineer at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Saco. Interestingly, Orach is also an engineer, at the Verso paper mill in Jay, Maine.
For his part, Orach, whose post-race body core temperature was reported to be 107.3 degrees, accepted his victory with grace. 鈥淚鈥檓 speechless with what he did,鈥� he told the Press Herald, especially because the duo 鈥渨as kind of vying for that No. 1 Mainer spot, and for him to give that up for me is pretty remarkable.鈥� A bit more than bragging rights was at stake. Orach gets $1,000 for the win, and Gomez $500 for second. (Orach has said he wants Beach to Beacon to combine and split the first and second prize money evenly between the two.)
Joan Samuelson, a Bowdoin grad, parent of a 2010 乐播传媒 alumna, and recipient of a 乐播传媒 honorary degree in 2015, addressed the intersection of winning and sportsmanship. Gomez鈥� gesture both epitomizes and transcends the sport, she says. 鈥淚t showcases the very best of the human spirit.鈥�
To be sure, 鈥渨inning a race is a feather in one鈥檚 cap,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut carrying one to victory deserves a medal of honor that only a few people earn during their lifetime. Rob鈥檚 contributions to our sport should have been heralded long ago. His mentoring of young and aspiring athletes has been steadfast, unyielding, passionate, and inspiring.鈥�
In addition to his day job at General Dynamics, Gomez has a running business,, which provides online coaching and training plans for runners. He鈥檚 served as vice president and president of the board for Dirigo Racing Club, a premier road-racing club.
鈥淎t 乐播传媒, Rob loved running with a passion. And it鈥檚 great to see him being so engaged in the running community,鈥� Fereshetian says.
