BY SAPNA PATHAK

Kristin Johnson and her teammates used to complain about the vigorous training regimen that came with being on West High’s track team.

But Lee Hess changed that.

It was seeing the Blue Knights sprinting coach come back from a tough injury that changed Johnson’s perspective on work ethic, dedication and motivation.

“Last summer he had a really bad fall off a ladder,” said Bedford’s Johnson of Hess. “By winter track he was in the hallways with us, working out as much as he could. To see him out there while we’d joke and complain about having to do it … it was really impressive and motivational.”

A little more than one year after shattering his hip, Hess competed in this year’s annual Granite State Senior Games. The New Boston resident returned to competitive running in January, four months after falling 25 feet off a ladder, running at the Dartmouth Indoor meet.

On Sunday, Aug. 12, Hess won gold in the men’s 55- to 59-year-old division in the 50-meter dash, the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.

“The doctors said I wouldn’t run for at least a year,” said Hess at the GSSG meet, held at Manchester’s Livinston Park. “But six months later, I was ready to go. I went with the non-surgical option and it turned out it was the best decision I ever made. There was no way I could give up running so I just kept at it.”

After seeing specialists at a hospital in Boston, Hess was limited to crutches for six weeks following the injury. Each day involved stimulating his hip muscles via an automated machine.

Soon, walking and light running became part of Hess’s rehabilitation before he returned to the track at West High; on Sunday, the 57-year-old ran the 50 in 7.18 seconds.

“He’s a sprinting coach, and I did long distance but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t involved with us,” said Johnson. “I’ve been around him all my four years on West’s track team and he’s always been there helping us and showing us how to get better. It was so cool to see him come back from something that could’ve never let him run again to being out there competing a few months later.”