Outsports Store Sports apparel, jockstraps, underwear, NFL jerseys, and books and videos for gay athletes.   Baseball Basketball NFL College F'ball Gay Games Tennis Women's Sports More   Clubhouse Discussion Board Gumby's Athlete Registry   Local Events Local Groups Local News   Community Outreach Featured Articles From The Wire Making A Difference Out Athletes Regular Columnists Jock Talk Week In Review   Locker Rooms Picture This   About Outsports Entertainment Gay Sports News Olympics Outsports in the Media   E-mail Outsports.com jock cup jockstrap underwear gay gay sports gay jocks gay pride			Marathon Champ: 'Time to Be Who I Am' By Brent Mullins Outsports.com A beaming mom under the spring trees of Sydney. A proud dad driving through the fall trees of Grant?s Pass, Ore. A grateful son, smiling in triumph across the miles. Jake Bartholomy was sore, tired and elated. He had just won the gold medal at the Sydney Gay Games marathon and he was able to share his victory with the people he most dearly loved?his mom, Nancy, standing right next to him and his dad, Karl, hearing his son?s news 8,000 miles away on a cell phone in Oregon. Four years ago, Jake could only have dreamed of this moment. Growing up in Fairbanks, Alaska, Jake and his older brother Bret were scholar athletes with a lot of friends. Jake was so intense about his schoolwork and his running, there was no time to think about who he really was. His mom Nancy thought Jake would get into dating women later?he was just a ?late bloomer,? she said. ?Running was great because they got to have a nice group of friends who are focused and have goals. It was beneficial for their character, and they chose friends wisely,? she said. Jake continued running ? through college at Penn State (where he was a cross-country All American), and a doctorate in Physical Therapy from Slippery Rock, University in Pennsylvania. He now practices physical therapy in Seattle and is active in the Seattle Frontrunners. While finishing school in 1998, he heard about Gay Games V in Amsterdam. ?I thought it was such a cool idea ? there was a whole world, just for us!? Jake was just coming out and was was unable to attend, but vowed things would be different in 2002. ?It just killed me to read about it and not run,? he said. ?I always wanted to go to Australia, so I was determined to come to Sydney and run--as well as experience it.? When the late-bloomer started dating a man long-distance in 1998, Jake decided he didn?t want to lie about the relationship and hide it from his family. So he wrote a coming-out letter to his parents, with a copy for Nancy and Karl so they could read it at the same time. Her first reaction was, ?Oh no! It must be a mistake!? But when she thought about it, she knew ?he?s the same Jake?and doesn?t deserve to be abandoned by his family.? In an e-mail to her son, she wrote, ?Don?t ever question our love for you?just give us some time to absorb it.? His dad wasn?t as quick to absorb it as his mom. ?There are many ignorant people who believe it?s a choice,? she said. ?It makes me so sad when I hear stories?especially about fathers?who don?t accept their children. Maybe dads are afraid someone would judge them.? Jake said he knew ?I?m really still the same person?now they just know more about me. I think it made our relationship even stronger by not keeping anything from them.? His dad didn?t want to tell his friends originally about Jake, but he?s ready now. ?It?s not the kind of thing to be ashamed of? Nancy said. ?My parents keep surprising me,? Jake said. ?Finding a PFLAG [Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays] chapter in Grant?s Pass, Oregon?can you believe it?! I was reading Betty DeGeneres? book [?Love, Ellen?]?and my dad asked if he could read it when I got done.? Jake was so grateful for his mom?s support in Sydney. ?That she would come 10,000 miles to watch me run here, just blows me away. It?s just so exciting!? Jake did run an exciting race, winning in a time of 2:39:59, not only the fastest time in his age group, but the fastest at the Games. Karl Bartholomy wanted to be in Sydney too, but was afraid to fly. With the race over, Jake was determined to get to a computer so he could e-mail the golden news to his father, who was checking for messages every 20 minutes. Jake?s new Aussie friend, triathlete and cyclist Will Hughes, generously offered his cell phone, and in a few minutes Jake had reached his dad, driving with his cell phone. They were separated by continents, an ocean away, a generation apart--but sharing an incredible accomplishment, two people who knew what it took to get there. The endless hours of solitary practice, the blisters, the cramped legs, the burning lungs, the fear of not being accepted were made all the more sweet and worthwhile by being able to share it with the family that knows?and loves?him best. Jake may be in gold-medal shape, but he said it still ?breaks my heart when I hear stories about gay people losing their families when they come out.? Quietly, right next to him on the grass, James Willnoys, a marathoner from Brisbane, Australia, said ?That happened to me?? gazing wistfully between the grass and the happy scene. ?You just have to find family,? he said, a determined smile proving his own triumph over a disheartening experience. Jake?s mom wasn?t just there to cheer. ?It?s so educational to be here,? she said. ?It makes me sad so many have to hide it. I?m hoping for the day when they won?t have to. It?s great to come and see how easy it is to be yourself.? Shakespeare in Julius Caesar said ?bid me run, and I will strive with things impossible.? Jake makes the impossible look easy. ?Pretty much everyone knows [I'm gay] and I don?t hide it from anyone, which has made my life so much richer. ? ?It?s just time to be who I am.? Photo of Jake Bartholomy taking to his father in Oregon, next to his mother Nancy. By Brent Mullins / Outsports.com. Check out some great images from the Gay Games marathon. Have a Gay Games story to tell? Send it to us.