Faith, passion fuel Atkinson

BY MARK DECOTIS • FLORIDA TODAY • DECEMBER 25, 2009

MELBOURNE — There's a dichotomy when it comes to Brian Atkinson and running.

A soft-spoken person of humility and deep faith, he nevertheless considers his competitors the enemy and won't hesitate to run them into the ground.

It all comes back to simple philosophies of living by religious principals, but at the same time never giving anything but his best no matter what the task. And if giving his best means bringing other runners to their threshold of pain and beyond, well that's what he does with himself, and it's paid the 17-year-old remarkable dividends.

The Melbourne High senior has won four consecutive Cape Coast Conference, district and regional cross country championships and in November became only the fourth male runner in Florida history to win three state cross country titles. He joins Cocoa Beach High graduate Elly Kabboord (three state titles) and Holy Trinity graduate Kayla Hale (four) as Brevard County's most decorated prep cross country athletes.