Lee County’s Robert Grooms battled odds to qualify for state sectional meet

LEESBURG — The odds that Robert Grooms would ever run were low. The chances that he would be able to run competitively were just about none.

When the Lee County High School track & field star was in elementary school, he contracted a staph infection. The infection progressed to the point that doctors thought they would have to amputate his leg.

“You tell that to a young kid and he doesn’t really know what to expect,” Grooms said. “Luckily enough by the grace of God it worked out all right.”

When the doctors first told him what might happen, Grooms was afraid, but the fear was not only about his leg. It was about what else would be taken from him.

“The only thing I could think of when they said that was that I wasn’t going to be able to play sports,” he said.

Like any mother would be after having their child’s well-being threatened, Grooms’ mother was hesitant to let him participate in sports again. After some persuading, she finally relented and her son got his wish.

“The staph infection thing, that took a toll on my mom,” Grooms said. “She was scared when they said they might have to cut my leg off.”

Grooms played basketball and ran track & field during his first two years at Lee County, but before his junior year he stopped playing basketball to focus on running track.

The decision has paid off. Grooms has won a region title in the 400-meter and 800-meter. He will compete in the Class AAAAAA state sectional meet Saturday at Mill Creek High School in Hoschton.

“For a while, all I wanted to do was play basketball,” Grooms said. “But I just felt more at home when it came to track. I felt at ease. I didn’t really feel as at home on the basketball court.”

While his high school basketball career was short-lived, he did earn one thing during his time with the team. Upon first seeing Grooms, Lee County basketball coach Kirven Davis bestowed the nickname “Slim” upon the lanky Grooms.

“I just started embracing it,” Grooms said. “At first, I hated it because I thought they were just trying to pick at me and say I’m skinny. After a while, I just gave up and said ‘Heck with it. Just call me that.’ ”

What makes Grooms’ story even more unique is that he does not wear track & field spikes when he runs. Grooms wears a size 16 or 17 shoe, depending on the brand, which has forced him to run in regular running shoes.

During one of his first meets, Grooms remembers receiving stares from his competitors because he ran in New Balances while the others ran in spikes.

“The other kids were picking at me and joking on me about my shoes,” Grooms said. “They were saying I didn’t belong because I didn’t have the proper footwear.”

On a good day, Grooms says he can run the 400 meters in about 48-49 seconds. Many competitors and other coaches have told him that he could reduce his time by around two seconds if he was able to run in spikes.

“People are amazed,” Lee County track & field coach Condre Payne said. “They see he runs under 50 seconds in the 400 meters and look down and realize he doesn’t have any spikes. Everyone is thrilled and amazed that he does it without spikes.”

The Grooms family has searched high and low for size 17 track shoes but has been unsuccessful. Most companies that sell spikes have told them that the biggest size made is a 15.

Payne has also looked for shoes and contacted people in the industry to inquire about them.

Multiple Lee County track parents even put together a mini search party to look for spikes, even talking to a professional track athlete and a manufacturer which yielded no results.

“Some people say they have found them for 300 bucks,” Payne said. “Coaches have recommended sites and databases for them and we still haven’t been able to find any.”

After his high school career is finished, Grooms will run at Clayton State University. The coaches have told him that they will try to get custom spikes made for him.

Grooms will leave some big shoes to fill when he leaves Lee County.