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Tom Plummer's passion for running inspires decades of service as official
Tom Plummer has officiated hundreds of middle and high school as well as collegiate races and events in his 39 years as a track and field official.
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HUNTINGTON -- By his own account, Tom Plummer was a decent middle-distance runner when he went to high school in the 1960s. Plummer never set a state record or won a regional championship.
He continued to get better into his 20s and 30s. By that time he found his true calling, not as a runner but as a race official. Plummer became a part of the Tri-State's running community in the 1970s as an official and has remained a staple for almost 40 years.
A semi-retired geologist, Plummer has a simple philosophy for timing events and working with athletes -- whether it be a college track star to someone going on a fun run in a local 5K race.
"We're all there for those athletes to help them do the best they can do," Plummer said. "It's important not to be there for yourself."
Plummer always enjoyed running growing up near South Point, Ohio. But it wasn't until his junior year in high school that he started running competitively. He liked the freedom of running yet enjoyed the competitive team atmosphere just as much.
Plummer continued running in the Tri-State while the 1970s running boom was in full swing. While running longer distance races in his 20s and 30s, Plummer was asked to help officiate a local race in 1970.
Plummer agreed to volunteer and that began his hobby of officiating and timing race events in Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio. Thirty-nine years later, Plummer now serves as the vice president of the USA Track and Field-West Virginia Association.
"Officiating gave me the opportunity to be in association with some really good people," Plummer said. "It keeps me involved with the running community."
Most recently, Plummer timed the West Virginia 5K Championship in Huntington last week. Plummer used small microchips attached to bands worn on the legs of runners. A large clock told the runners and walkers what their times were the second they crossed the finish line on Veterans Memorial Boulevard.
The times went into a computer which could spit out results minutes after the last person crossed the line.
But timing races hasn't always been that detailed, Plummer said.
Early race officiating was primitive. Plummer said he started out giving runners popsicle sticks with finishing place numbers on them as they crossed the finish line. Someone would then write the time on their runners' sticks and that was their official time result.
Plummer thought it'd be better to bring technology into the mix by using a desktop computer. Unfortunately, desktop computers weren't easy to transport and weren't safe to operate outside where the track meets and local races were being held.
"I can't believe we didn't get electrocuted," Plummer joked.
The technology got better and so did the competition. With better competition, newer, more reliable timing devices were developed. In the mid-1970s, Plummer became an official race timer for USA Track & Field and added throwing and jumping events to his officiating duties a few years later.
Since becoming a USATF official, Plummer has officiated track and cross-country meets at Marshall University, Ohio University, Wake Forest University as well as other colleges in the Mid-American Conference and the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Plummer said he had to take time off of work so that he could volunteer at larger track meets that he had to travel to.
He's also volunteered to officiate countless track and cross-country meets for area middle and high schools in the surrounding states. Chris Parsons, the cross-country and track coach at Cabell Midland High School in Ona, said the school has served as Plummer's adopted family in the running community.
Plummer, Parsons said, has officiated races for the teams since the school opened in 1994 and has become an intricate part of the running "family" at Cabell Midland.
"He's always been there to volunteer and help out in any way he can," Parsons said. "He puts in a lot of hours at Cabell Midland volunteering and he never expects anything in return."
"Tom is a true volunteer," Parsons added. "He doesn't want the headlines, he just wants to help out."
With years of experience and countless hours helping out the Cabell Midland teams, Plummer has become a master USATF official. According to the USATF, "Master level certification is reserved for a limited number of the most outstanding officials who have achieved mastery in a specific area of officiating."
Dr. Tom Dannals, director of the Marshall University Marathon and Tri-State Triathlon, said Plummer's experience in race timing is unquestionable. Plummer has volunteered to time the marathon, including this year's, since it began almost six years ago.
"He's very detailed, very meticulous," Dannals said.
"When Tom (Plummer) is in charge of something, I never worry about it," Parsons said.
Plummer has seen lots of close finishes at the end of races and plenty of personal bests from athletes under his officiating -- but none of those moments stick out in his mind. What matters most to him are the people he's worked with.
"As you get older, the memories that last the longest are about people," Plummer said.
One person in particular is South Point principal John Maynard. Before Maynard was ever a principal, Plummer remembers him as a budding track athlete whose mother attended the home meets and cheered on her son from her lawn chair.
Over the years, Plummer officiated races in which he saw Maynard develop from a middle school runner to a conference champion. And while he was happy to see Maynard's athletic career progress over the years, Plummer said he was more happy to see a local runner stay in the area and contribute to the community.
He credits the success of the recent West Virginia 5K Championship and other local running events to volunteer involvement. Without the people behind the scenes, Plummer said, there wouldn't be a running community in the Tri-State.
Plummer hopes, in some way, that his years of volunteering at local races, track and cross-country meets has made a positive impact on the community -- like Maynard, Dannals and Parsons have done.
"I'd like people to remember that I'd tried to make things a little better from when I found it," Plummer said. "The best you can do for someone is show them that you care."
"And I care," Plummer said.
Christian Alexandersen is a reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Comments may be e-mailed to him at calexandersen@herald-dispatch.com.
Tom Plummer
Volunteer activity: Master USA Track & Field official.
Hometown: South Point, Ohio.
Age: 65.
Family: Wife, Judy; daughters, Sarah Tarpley and Courtney Nunez.
Hobbies: Running, mountain biking and road cycling.
