Over the weekend, twenty-one men in formation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary and School of Theology participated in the 28th annual Flying Pig Marathon. The men of the mount held their own among the approximately 45,000 other racers. Emerson Wells, studying for the Archdiocese of Louisville, placed second overall with a personal best marathon time of 2:23:52, averaging 5 minutes, 30 seconds per mile for the entire 26.2 mile race. It’s a time that would have won him first place nine out of the last ten years of the race. 

The seminarian-led Verso l’Alto Track Club team won first place in the 4-person relay, clocking a finish time of 2:30:39 and outstripping the second place relay team by nearly twenty minutes. Seminarian Chatham Anderson, studying for the Diocese of Columbus, started the team off, followed by Nick Merk, then Kevin Bonfield, and finally Cincinnati seminarian David Adamitis brought the team over the finish line. 

These five men each dawned the Verso l’Alto Track Club jersey, signalling to all who passed by that they ran for a reason. St. Pier Giorgio Frassati, canonized by Pope Leo XIV on September 7, 2025, made the Italian phrase Verso l’Alto known around the world. It translates to “To the heights.” The Verso l’Alto Track Club, open to all local Catholic men (with a qualifying 5k time of 18 minutes) combines the pursuit of excellence in running and virtuous brotherhood—all ordered toward the glorification of God.

Wells, a lifelong runner, said this was the most systematic training he’s used to prepare for a marathon thus far.

“I had a few weeks where I got up to 80 miles a week, which was workable, but it was definitely tough with the schedule and I had to use my breaks to take advantage of that,” he said.

The seminarians stick to a strict schedule of prayer, worship, instruction, and study each day. Wells trained with a goal of running the race in 2 hours, 25 minutes or less. “I knew I had to really focus on the hills if I was going to be successful.” 

In conjunction with his rigorous training, Wells had a few other tools to keep him going toward his goal.

“There was a group of sisters from the Children of Mary that came down to my home parish in Louisville. One of them—Sr. Imelda Joy—told me that she and two of her other sisters were going to be making perpetual vows soon.”

On May 3, to be exact, the same day as the Flying Pig Marathon.

“When she told me that, I was like, full stop. That’s what I’m going to be offering this race for.” 

At moments when the race became tough, Wells remembered those sisters and asked for our Lady’s intercession for them.

Wells’ devotion to Mary is made visible by the brown scapular he wore during the race. “I wear the scapular every day; it’s part of my devotional life.” The scapular didn’t stay in place as he ran through the streets of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. “I actually like having it on during runs because you can kind of see it’ll fly around quite a bit, and I’m reminded that Mary is the way and she’s the perfect exemplar of what it means to be truly devoted to God and contemplation,” Wells said.

The men of the Verso l’Alto Track Club share a common goal: physical excellence ordered toward spiritual growth.

“You can be excellent in a given activity and excellent in your faith. They’re not exclusive to each other, but actually mutually affirming,” Adamitis said. “I think that there’s a real good among Christians to have ambitious goals according to their talents and to ask the Lord for enlightenment about what their abilities are and how they can use those abilities to glorify His name to bring others into His kingdom.”

The message as these men ran “to the heights” was clear: the pursuit of excellence is the pursuit of God.

“When we strive to have perfection in those areas of physical health and strength, it should really encourage us to have greater care for what matters the most, and that’s our soul and our union with God,” said Adamitis.

Both Wells and Adamitis plan to continue running. Through the Verso l’Alto Track Club, they aim to amplify their mission throughout Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, and the Archdiocese at large.

Catholic high school students and adults are invited to compete in the club’s summer cross country challenge on August 7, 2026. Adamitis explained the main motivation is to bring Catholic high school students together so that they can have a sense of a greater community. “So that these high school students can see, ‘As I get older and I eventually graduate high school, I can still pursue running at a high level and stay Catholic.’ There’s an element of excellence to both of those things that continue beyond high school.” 

“Our athletic pursuits are ultimately ordered for the glorification of God,” Adamitis said. “Cincinnati is a wonderful running city, and we can shift the idea to where it’s not just running, but it’s running for the glorification of God.”