Standing in his starting box at Franklin Park, John Hall was focused on the race at hand. He took a moment to size up the competition around him. Then he saw a familiar face in high school classmate Dickie Gerry.

The two shook hands and soon after began the New England Open Championships on Oct. 6. As Gerry paced his way up one of the course’s hills, Hall caught up and ran stride for stride with his former high school teammate, just like they often do in the town woods during breaks from school.

Hall, now a senior on Bowdoin College’s Division III cross country team, and Gerry, in his fourth year with Division II Stonehill, faced each other that day in Franklin Park for the only time in their college careers.

On Saturday, Nov. 17, both runners competed at the NCAA Championships in their respective divisions, concluding their college cross country career.

Hall finished the D-III event at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., with a 57th-place finish among 280 runners from around the country. Gerry competed at Missouri Southern State University, and finished 170th out of 187 runners.

Hall has come a long way since joining the cross country team as a high school freshman simply because he knew he would not be able to make the soccer team. In his first year, Hall was running the 5k distance – 3.1 miles – in around 25 minutes. By his senior year, he trimmed that time to about 16 minutes.

Gerry, on the other hand, worked hard to hone the talent he already had.

“They are both very different guys. Dickie goes about his business and isn’t really vocal as a leader,” said Dyrace Maxfield, who coached the pair at Bow High School. “He definitely is an incredibly hard worker, and the guys naturally followed him because of how hard he worked and how talented he was.”

“Everyone knew who John was, and he wasn’t afraid to speak up a little bit,” added Maxfield. “He was behind Dickie a little bit, but he had a real desire to get better.”

During high school, Hall was involved in many activities, from band to president of student council, among other activities.

“Off the track in school he was Mr. Everything. He was in the clubs, the band, student council. He was successful at everything, and his running followed that,” said Gerry. “As far as running, I had the more natural ability, and he had to put in the hard work and learn through racing how to push himself.” Part of the credit for Hall’s improvement can go to Gerry, who helped motivate Hall throughout their four years running together.

“I always looked up to Dickie. He was always faster than me in high school. I saw him as a goal to stride towards,” said Hall. “He was such a great runner, and I enjoyed running with him because I thought running with him would make me better. It was good to have someone on the team to look up to.” Hall said another motivating factor came during his freshman year.

“We’d go to races and they’d have award ceremonies at the end. During my freshman year I saw a lot of that. I always thought it would be so cool to be up there,” he said.

One of Maxfield’s favorite memories of Hall came in 2003 during the state competition when Hall finished third.

Maxfield was standing alongside the course when Hall ran toward him with about one mile remaining.

Without breaking stride, Hall looked at his coach, smiled and got ready to make his move.

“That’s strange when running that hard and fast. When he looked at me, I knew he was going to go by that guy. John had convinced himself that he was going to do something special,” said Maxfield.

Maxfield also remembers when Gerry came into the cafeteria following a poor performance in a race in Manchester. He took off his watch and threw it against the wall, breaking it into pieces.

“It was just from that point on he was unstoppable. It’s another kid where if you see him competing, you might not understand how fiery he is,” said Maxfield.

Gerry won the individual state championship that year.

Now, when home for the summer or holiday breaks, Gerry and Hall often cross paths while running in the forests of Bow, taking the time to catch up.

“We don’t see each other outside of the woods that much. We just are always able to talk there. He’s a great running partner to have,” said Hall. “And he’s one of my favorite people in town.”