(08-Aug) -- With a smile as big as the Atlantic Ocean, Shawn Forrest proves that dreams can come true. Last Saturday at the TD Bank Beach to Beacon 10-K in Cape Elizabeth, Me., Forrest finished sixth in 28:16.3 in his professional road racing debut.  Not only did he finish near the front, the 27 year-old was in the lead pack for more than half of the race, the only non-African able to handle the pace.

"I was simply just having fun," said the six-foot Austrailian, his hair shaved close like a soldier's.

Forrest had traveled a long road before his good showing last Saturday.  It all started with a dream.  When he was thirteen, in his first year at Vermont Secondary School in Victoria, Forrest discovered running as a way to escape.

"We [students] got the day off from school for a track meet," recalled Forrest slyly.

Running the 1500m, Forrest ended up making the state track final.  Without much training, he set the state record while running in basketball shoes.  After all, basketball was his first sport.

"A kid in my school two years ahead said, 'Hey, you're pretty good, you should train.'  So I said, 'ya, I like being out of school, it was fun. Why not?'"

After talking to the track coach at his high school, Forrest began to run instead of play basketball, and hasn't stopped since.

At that point, Forrest, still 13, began to rise as a junior athlete, making a name for himself.  In high school, the Melbourne native ran times of 3:48.0 in the 1500m, 8:07.50 in the 3000m and 13:57.74  in the 5,000m, while winning state titles in the 1500m and 3000m.

As the 2000 Sydney Olympics came around, Forrest was one of the best juniors in the nation.  Idolizing Olympians Craig Mottram and Lee Troop, as well as local Austrailian athletes who he competed against, Forrest was inspired.  At the age of 17, he was given the opportunity to be a basket carrier at the Olympics, seeing his heroes up close and in person.

"We would have fun, and be like 'Aw what basket do you want? And I really wanted [Haile] Gebrselassie's basket. So I got to carry his basket for the 10,000m final.  That experience, seeing the athletes, that's when I knew this was what I wanted to do, to run."