Anthony Hamm immediately knew he had talent as a distance runner, winning a one-mile fun run in sixth grade with a time around 5 minutes and 30 seconds.
And he wasn’t exactly dressed for success.
“With basketball shoes and blue jeans on,” Hamm recalls.
But it wasn’t until four years later that he began putting that knowledge to use.
Hamm didn’t run in middle school or as a freshman at Flint Northern, choosing to spend his ninth-grade year adapting to the transition to high school.
Heading into 10th grade, it took some persuasion from those who were aware of his potential to get Hamm to come out for cross country. Among his biggest boosters was Derrick Hamm, an uncle who is only five years older and had recently completed his high school career with the Vikings.
“My uncle and a couple of my friends said, ‘You really need to do this,’” Hamm said. “They said, ‘You’ve got extra skills in this and you could potentially get a scholarship to go to college for it.’ Once they said that, it got my attention.”
Hamm didn’t waste time getting the attention of opposing runners, not just in the Flint area, but throughout the state of Michigan.
As a sophomore, he made all-state in cross country by finishing seventh in the state Class A individual race in 16:01.7. On the track that spring, he took third in the state Class A finals in the 3,200-meter run in 9:28.80 to earn all-state.
“To be honest, I was shocked that it happened as fast as it did, but I felt I had the talent,” Hamm said. “When I was in elementary school, I knew I was doing stuff that was not ordinary for someone that young, so I knew
I had the ability. Obviously, I didn’t realize it was going to happen that fast my first year running in high school.”
The highlight of Hamm’s high school career came as a junior in 1985, when he won the individual race at the Class A finals in 15:43.03. Monroe junior Todd Williams won the team race, but his time was 0.36 seconds slower than Hamm’s, making Hamm the overall state champion.
The following year, the two future college All-Americans would go head-to-head in the Class A finals at IMA Brookwood Golf Course in Flint. Northern qualified as a team that year, putting Hamm and Williams in the same race.
Williams won in 15:08.32, a time that was a Class A record at the time, while Hamm was second with a time of 15:25.56 that would have won four of the previous six state meets.
“It was incredible,” Hamm said. “Todd Williams was arguably the top distance runner ever to come out of Michigan. It’s always good to run against the best. He’s definitely one of the top runners. It was a competitive race, but I was definitely happy to have the opportunity to run with someone at his standard and such a top athlete.”
Williams ran in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games, finishing 10th in the 10,000 in 1992. Hamm qualified for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in 1996 in the 10,000.
The two would hook up on the track to conclude their high school careers, with Williams taking first in the 3,200 in 9:01.40 and Hamm second in 9:03.80 in the 1987 Class A finals. Hamm’s time stood as the Flint-area record until future Olympian Grant Fisher of Grand Blanc broke it 27 years later.
Williams went on to run for the University of Tennessee. Hamm nearly became his teammate, as he planned to follow in the footsteps of great Flint Northern runners like Mike Miller, Calvin McQueen and Keith Young.
Hamm pivoted to nearby East Lansing after his visit to Michigan State.
“I just felt comfortable,” he said. “I felt at home. They seemed like they really wanted me to go to Michigan State. What I loved about it was from day one they said, ‘As long as you do what you need to do, you will graduate.’ It was close enough to home I could go home regularly, but far enough that it felt like a long ways away.”
As a Spartan, Hamm made All-America four times in cross country and twice in track. He was a two-time Big Ten 10,000-meter champion, the 1987 Big Ten cross country Freshman of the Year and the first track and field athlete to win MSU’s George Alderton Athlete of the Year Award in 1992.
Hamm was inducted into the Michigan State University Hall of Fame in 2021.
Sponsored by adidas, Hamm ran on the professional road racing and track and field circuit following his college career.
As a pro, Hamm ran the Crim 10-mile road race in his hometown six straight years from 1992-97, cracking the top 18 each year in fields that were dominated by Kenyan runners. His best finish was in 1993, when he was the first American and ninth overall in 48:43. His fastest time was in 1992, when he ran 48:33, the second-fastest time ever by a Flint-area native at the Crim.
“It was awesome, because the Crim is one of the top road races in the country,” Hamm said. “What I love about it was it was an international field. You’re running against some of the best distance runners in the world. The first year where I made the top 10 was definitely a highlight. It was always special running in that event in my hometown. I always had a lot of family members and friends come out and cheer me on.”
Hamm is currently living in Landover, Md. with his wife and teenage son. He runs a vocational program for high school special education students.
