A new red banner in the front window at Green’s Hardware, in among the “Knife Sharpening” and “Propane” signs, heralds Tokyo Olympics marathon bronze medalist Molly Seidel and her coach, Jon Green—as in Green’s Hardware.
It reads:
“Congratulations
Molly Seidel
Bronze Medalist
Tokyo Olympics
Women’s Marathon
2:27:30
Coach Jonathan Green.”
Store owner Tom Green says he got the sign in the works shortly after Seidel won the bronze in just her third marathon (she’s now going to run the New York Marathon). Seidel was coached by Green’s son Jon, who like Seidel was an excellent college runner who once shared an NCAA cross country running podium with her before they’d met. They wound up meeting through a running club, where they trained together. When they left the club, Green started coaching Seidel.
If you frequent Green’s Hardware it’s quite possible you would have run across Jon, who has worked there in the past. And if you frequent the Wellesley High School track, it’s possible you would have run across Seidel, who served as an assistant cross country coach at WHS a few years back.
While the Green’s Hardware sign touts the accomplishments of both the marathon medalist and coach, Tom Green is quick to point out that Seidel is the one who deserves the credit. “She’s strong willed. She has quite an engine,” he said.
As for his son’s role, he said Jon and Seidel have “good chemistry.”
I messaged Seidel via Instagram about the banner. She quickly gave it a heart, and wrote: “I owe a solid 80% of the fame to the Greens alone!”
Jon Green says Wellesley itself gets “a fair bit” of credit, too. “We love to run in Wellesley,” he wrote. “This just means Wellesley better cheer extra hard when she does [the Boston Marathon] sometime in the future!”
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