I have always admired people who knew what they wanted to do with their life right from the git-go. Me? I still don’t know what I want to do when I grow up. When I came across the story of sixteen year old Robby Marshall, I was surprised, delighted, and I knew I wanted the story to appear on the ink-free pages of The Advocate.

How the story came to me is an interesting (to me at least) matter of connections—a series of connect-the-dots. You may recall I asked for stories, or leads to stories, in last week’s edition. I received an email from Beth Tobey, FINCOM secretary, explaining that she was Robby’s aunt. “My nephew, a life time resident of Stow, has recently gone pro in Motocross Racing. He is just 16 years old and one of the youngest Pro MX racers. He is currently traveling on a Pro tour, but I am sure his parents would be glad to talk to you about him. I have attached a few pictures of his visit to the classroom and a couple of him at races.”

Robby’s father is Rick Marshall of Astro Crane Service fame. Suddenly the circle was complete. How many times had I seen a yellow Astro Crane truck lumbering along Great Road?

I caught up with Robby’s mom in North Carolina. “I’m at a laundromat doing my son’s laundry.” She explained that Robby was a pro racer on the AMA’s Supercross and Motocross series. Wow! I thought turning pro at sixteen is a huge step in a kid’s life. I was amazed. Robby, she explained, had been racing motorcycles since he was five years old. Wow! Racing! Was I out of diapers when I was five years old?

Roseanne went on to explain that it was a “big stage in our lives. It is a lot of traveling. It’s a lot of training, and it’s a lot of home schooling.”

Robby was preparing for a Supercross event in Georgia this weekend, and between training, home schooling, and sleeping, there might not be time for me to interview Robby. I thought having three kids playing soccer was a huge commitment.

It is inspiring to see a kid that young-- that motivated, but what’s going on right now? The Olympics in Turino, Italy and isn’t that what its all about—young kids devoting a significant part of their lives to something they love.

Look to a feature article about Stow’s own Robby Marshall in a future edition of The Stow Advocate.

©2006 Jim Dunlap

Robby visits a third grade class at Pompo