The most successful homeless man at Penn: Paolo Frescura

The Penn men's cross country and track runner has lived and competed all over the world. Penn men's cross country runner Paolo Frescura is easily the most successful homeless guy on campus. He has lived in Italy, France, Canada and now the United States, and with a little luck, the senior captain has the potential to visit even more countries next year on the professional running circuit. Frescura lived in Italy as a child before eventually attending high school in Toronto. His parents moved to France less than a year before he came to Penn. He is fluent in French, English and Italian, and he is currently trying to teach himself Spanish. His European parents and Canadian high school years have produced a unique person who does not really fit any one stereotype. But that has not stopped his teammates from constantly making fun of his interesting word choice, quirks and behavior. One incident occurred in Chicago the weekend of the Wolf and Kettle Invitational about a month ago. The Quakers were eating at an Italian restaurant, and there was a man walking around the room taking requests with his accordion. While his teammates wanted to hear Frank Sinatra, Frescura asked for obscure operas that were foreign to everyone, including the musician. Another anecdote comes from housemates and fellow cross country runners Matt Blodgett and Jason Greene. "The first day he moved in, I came downstairs and found him mopping the kitchen floor in shorts, a 'wifebeater,' Oakleys and rubber gloves," said Blodgett. "He's always doing weird, unexplainable things like that." Like many Canadians, Frescura is a huge ice hockey fan, which has added an interesting twist to practices. He frequently "jerseys" people, which is a hockey move in which he pulls a teammate's shirt over his head. But despite frequent taunts of "Canuck," "Eurosport" and "Eh," Frescura's teammates all respect and admire his ability and work ethic. "He's probably the most inspiring person I've ever seen race out of everybody, even Olympic people," sophomore Scott Clayton said. "When we're on the track, it's like his home." His teammates' respect extends to fear and awe among his opponents. "Half our league is scared to death of him," Penn coach Charlie Powell said. "There was a rumor someone started, more a joke than anything else, that was taken seriously. It's become the legend of Paolo." Part of this legend comes from his eccentric behavior at the starting line before a race, where he "shouts and screams, and gets all psyched up -- just like that," Blodgett said. "He scares the shit out of other people because they don't know what's going on." Frescura's intensity is so extreme, he had to sit out three consecutive track seasons due to recurring injuries to his shins. He was also sidelined for three races this year by a hip injury. "His attitude is if 10 miles is good and 20 is better, then 30 is awesome," Powell said. "But there are certain laws of science you just can't break no matter how much you want it." Part of Frescura's desire comes from his grandfather, who was a runner at the Italian national level in the 1930s. "He pulls out his leather track spikes with nails on the bottom and shows me his scars from being spiked," Frescura said. "My goal is to set a new family record, and he's been bugging the hell out of me." Frescura has made a habit of setting seemingly unrealistic goals and then making them come true through work and perseverance. At last year's 1,500-meter race at the Heptagonal Championships, Frescura announced months in advance that he was going to win. And win he did, cutting his time from three minutes, 55 seconds to 3:47 in only a year. "His biggest strength is a great deal of desire and courage in racing," Powell said. "He is the type of person who says he's going to do something and then goes and does it. Frescura's goals for this track season include trips to the NCAAs, the Canadian Nationals, and the Commonwealth Games over the summer. Powell believes Frescura should be among the top 10 Canadian runners by the end of this year. That would get him "carded," which would put him on an international list and lead to professional races in Europe. "The talent is there if we can keep him healthy," Powell said. Despite all of his interesting mannerisms and foreign characteristics, there was no end to the praise Frescura received from his coach and teammates. He may not have a home yet, but Paolo Frescura definitely has a bright future ahead of him.