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Twin distance runners run for fun at St. Petersburg College

By Terry Tomalin, Times Staff Writer
In print: Sunday, September 14, 2008

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ADVERTISEMENT [MARTHA RIAL | Times] Kenneth City twins Mark, left, and Brian Benjamin, 19, complete their workout last week with a run on the Pinellas Trail near St. Petersburg College, which they attend.

Editor's note: Brian and Mark like to finish each other's sentences. And since they sound exactly alike, this reporter hopes he got the attribution right. But it really doesn't matter, because the Benjamin Brothers said they also, more often than not, share the same thoughts.

ST. PETERSBURG

Brian and Mark Benjamin look alike, talk alike and even run alike.

"I'm the one with the long hair," said Mark. "I'm the one with the short hair," echoed his brother Brian.

The 19-year-old twins from Kenneth City did their best to keep this reporter from getting too confused. "I've got the speed," Mark said. "I can go the distance," explained Brian.

"Are you getting confused?" the two said in unison.

Late bloomers

The Brothers Benjamin didn't start running competitively until their junior year at Dixie Hollins High School.

"We tried playing football," said Mark, the slightly faster brother with long hair. "We were pretty scrawny … just 112 pounds."

Before that they played soccer, too. "You name it, we tried it," said Brian. "We spent a lot of time looking for a sport that we could really excel at."

Mark, who likes the 5K, is 6 feet 3 and weighs 150 pounds. Brian, who favors distances 10K or longer, is a half inch shorter but weighs the same.

"Right now, Mark is a little faster, but I know I have the speed in me," said Brian, who finished second behind his brother in the sixth installment of Tampa's Take the First Step Summer Series 5K this month.

Mark covered the 3-mile course in 17:14, which was 20 seconds off his personal record time of 16:54. It wasn't the first time the twins placed within seconds of each other.

"We are always right there together," Mark said, laughing. "It seems like we do everything together."

Joined at the hip

The Benjamins eat together, plan together, pray together, study together, but they don't train together.

"We both have jobs," Brian said. "I work at Publix and Mark works at …"

"Pizza Hut," his brother answered. "I make the best pies in the county."

So the two have to get their mileage in whenever they can. The typical training session involves about 5 miles of roadwork a day. On Tuesday nights, they join legendary running coach Joe Burgasser and his Forerunners Track Club crew for a workout at the St. Petersburg College track.

"They are great guys," said Burgasser, who often races with the twins on weekends. "They are constantly improving and I think they will turn into great runners."

The twins currently attend SPC, which does not have a cross-country team, so the only coaching they get is from Burgasser.

"It is amazing how much he has helped us," Brian said. "We have only been running with him since the beginning of the summer and already we can notice the difference.''

High hopes

Running has helped the Benjamins adopt a new lifestyle.

"We gave up junk food," Mark said. "I haven't been to McDonald's, Checkers, Taco Bell, any of those places, in three years. Proper nutrition is a big part of running."

The runners said their parents have always stressed that school comes first. Both are good students — Brian in business and Mark in engineering — and have earned Phi Theta Kappa honors at their college.

"We don't do much else except run, study, do volunteer work in the community and go to church," Mark said.

Both young men said they consider themselves "blessed" and attribute their good fortune to God.

"It is a big part of our lives," Brian said.

What happens next is anybody's guess. The twins hope to eventually transfer to a university, but where, they don't know.

"One thing is for sure," Brian said.

"Is that wherever we go," Mark continued.

"We'll be running," they said together.