Georgia Magazine - April 2020 - 31

from shortstop Dansby Swanson and second baseman Ozzie Albies.
"They like to give me a hard time," he says. "You
know: 'You can't let that fan beat you.'"
While Beat The Freeze started out as a tie-in to
Atlanta-based gas station RaceTrac's frozen drinks
and sweet treats, it's become a ballpark favorite,
says Megan Shannon, RaceTrac communications
manager.
"Braves fans and our guests alike love [Beat The
Freeze], and we are looking forward to this season,"
she says. "The Freeze ices out the competition,
despite his competitors' significant head start."
Braves staff members determine that head start
for the race around the outfield warning track. Contestants often get shouted advice from players in the
home and visitor bullpens.
Talton isn't sure how many fans have outrun
him, "but it's not many."

Running for records

COURTESY NIGEL TALTON

That amazing speed comes from a lifetime of
playing sports. Talton, who lettered in football and
track at Peach County High School in Fort Valley,
walked onto the track team as a freshman at Iowa
Wesleyan College (now University) in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. There, he won the Midwest Conference in

COURTESY NIGEL TALTON

Nigel Talton is training with a
group of athletes, including an
Olympic gold medalist, in hopes
of earning a spot on this year's
U.S. Olympic team.

the 100-meter dash and still holds the school record
in that event.
He transferred to Shorter College (now University) in Rome, where he set the NAIA records that got
the Braves' attention. He finished his college track
career as a five-time NAIA All-American and graduated from Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw in
2013 with a degree in sports management.
Talton's best Freeze race may have come in
2017, when a contestant threw up his hands in
victory just steps from the finish line-only to be
so startled as Talton sped by seconds later that he
stumbled and fell. As video of that race went viral, so
did Talton's fame. He regularly poses for pictures at
games and sometimes is recognized off the field.
"It's fun, and I love the fans," he says. "It's all
about them."
One such fan in Iowa reached out to "The
Freeze" for advice in her own struggle with 5K races.
"She saw me running and chasing my dreams,
so she said she would continue to do hers," he says.

International hopes
Talton's major dream is to make this year's
Olympic track team. He trains five days a week at
venues around Atlanta with a group of athletes,
including Dwight Phillips, who won a gold medal
in the long jump at the 2004 Olympic Games. He is
working on both indoor and outdoor events with an
eye on the Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore., in June
and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
He balances this rigorous schedule with his
Braves duties and an overnight shift at an Amazon
warehouse, often hitting the track straight from
work.
All of this doesn't come cheap. To help defray
training costs, Talton has a GoFundMe account and
is selling T-shirts printed with the personal motto he
created with his mother: "I can, I am, I will finish the
mission."
"I'm not stressing about it," he says. "The hard
part isn't working overnight and going to training; I
have to do that to chase my dream. The bigger challenge is finding a sponsor. But I'm not going to let
that stop me."
In the meantime, Talton is gearing up for
another season with the Braves and hoping that this
year he gets to fulfill yet another dream.
"I want to do The Freeze in the World Series,"
he says.
Rosalyn Dunn is a freelance writer who lives in
Atlanta.

To contribute to Nigel Talton's GoFundMe fundraiser, visit
bit.ly/gofundtalton. His T-shirts are available at bit.ly/taltontshirt.
www.georgiamagazine.org

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3/11/20 1:06 PM

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Georgia Magazine - April 2020

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