Panthers\' Vial has iron, will
BY FRED JETER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Iron is the key for John Vial. . . . No, not pumpin\' iron, but swallowing it.
No runner has cut more time than the Hermitage High junior.
His quality of life, on and off the running trails, turned around when it was discovered that Vial had a serious iron deficiency.
\"I was tired all the time,\" he said. \"All I wanted to do was sleep.\"
Once the iron supplement was prescribed for severe anemia, Vial transformed from a runner who practically needed goggles to keep others\' dust and mud out of his eyes, to who bolted near the front of the pack.
\"It\'s amazing what\'s happened. Last year, John couldn\'t beat my daughter,\" Panthers assistant Mug Hedley said.
As a sophomore, Vial placed 59th in the Colonial District junior varsity race.
His time was a heavy-footed 23.26 - well behind the before-mentioned Katie Hedley, who ran a 20:10 to take seventh in the girls varsity race.
For fu...