Mark Kelley
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Newly Wed Racing Body

By Bob Slowpants

Mark Kelley was born and reared in the Gainesville, Georgia area.  He attended Robert Wood Johnson High School in nearby Oakwood.  Mark’s father was an auto mechanic who specialized in fine tuning, especially his wife, who produced seven children. Mark and his twin sister were the youngest of the seven who span fifteen years in age. Six of the seven have remained in the Gainesville area, while one strayed as far away as Cleveland.  Mark entered the family business after high school, not wanting to be a chicken-plucker, like most Gainesville natives.  Mark’s reputation as an auto paint and body craftsman led him to leave the family business for the Panoz Racing and Automotive group in Braselton, where he honed his craft from 1999 until 2008.  Panoz built high-end racing car platforms that suffered in demand in the current recession.  Mark was one of the last Panoz production employees to be released in a series of cutbacks. Undaunted, Mark rejoined two brothers as a paint and body technician in the family business in Gainesville.  

Mark was the most eligible bachelor on the Run & See Georgia Grand Prix Series circuit until he partnered with Dr. Nancy Woods in June 2009.  They were married at the Callaway Gardens Triathlon, where Nancy ran and biked her leg of the event with a veil.  It turned out to be a bridal veil, as opposed to either Wayne or Cheryl. They celebrated their one-year anniversary by participating in the event again in 2010.  Mark and Nancy spend time when not running putting together jigsaw puzzles.  For excitement, they go to the neighborhood gas station and jump on the hose to hear the bell ring and enjoy the thrill of attending a good yard sale!  They average putting together two to three puzzles a week and have over sixty stored in boxes that are competing with Mark’s race shirts for space.  Mark’s marriage vows included getting rid of his house of race t-shirts, which he has cut down to one hundred keepers.  They do not watch TV, but enjoy travel.  They have traveled to Arizona, where Nancy grew up, three times to include a trek in the Grand Canyon. They both like Mexican food and have two dogs - Sluggo (a mutt) and Dixie (a Dachshund).   Marriage has agreed with Mark, who dropped thirty pounds (from 225 to 195) on the Dr. Nancy Diet for Winners. 

Mark’s first foray into running was the 1994 Peachtree Road Race and in that fall the Challenged Child Gainesville race.  Mark’s peak Run & See Georgia Grand Prix participation year was 2001 when he completed eighty circuit races. He anticipates doing over sixty in 2010, averaging one to two a weekend in the competitive 45-49 men’s age group.  Mark has completed eight marathons (Atlanta several times, Chickamauga, Tybee, Disney, and Huntsville’s Rocket City), as well as fifty half-marathons.  His best marathon time was 3:30 at Tybee in 1997. His best 5K time was 19:05 was also in 1997 in the Gainesville McEver Mustang race.  His favorite marathon is Chickamauga.  The Coach Mike 5K in Athens is his favorite 5K, which he has run seventeen times.  Mark prefers cross county races, with his favorite half-marathon being the Toys to Tots at Farmington’s Oconee Heritage Park.  The Old Soldier’s Day 5K on 1 August will be race number 1000 for Mark!  Mark misses the $8-$10 race entry fee days, a distant memory for most of us.          

Future plans include continuing to do Run & See Georgia Grand Prix races, returning to the Grand Canyon, plus traveling to Niagara Falls and Washington, DC to tour the Smithsonian.

Bob, checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the September profile on explosive Janice Duncan (she can still light a fire under her husband, Mark) and October featuring “going postal” Tim Bagley.  Douglasville’s own Terri Ernst is striving to educate Douglasville and has agreed to be profiled in November. 

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