SUPER SEAMAN
10/4/2007 5:05:00 PM by Lisa Knapp
Scott Saloman manages the Hall of Fame Marina and has the endurance to stay in his post for many years to come — and leave enough energy for his heart-pumping hobbies outside of work.
Photo by Lisa Knapp
Got sea legs? Scott Saloman does. He is physically fit for any duty, land or sea. Saloman’s legs take him everywhere. He jogs Fort Lauderdale Beach and his suburban Plantation neighborhood several times each week. It’s his ritual. He walks the Westrec Hall of Fame Marina daily, making sure the entire property and every yacht is in ship-shape, too.
Saloman grew up in South Florida and is the epitome of the All-American guy. At the age of 44, the former amateur Jai Alai player of 12 years shows no signs of slowing down. He took on Disney’s biggest dare, The Goofy Challenge in 2006, and is still alive to tell about it with a finisher’s medal to prove it. Scott ran Disney’s half-marathon on a Saturday and its full marathon on Sunday.
“That’s 39.3 miles (in about 24 hours),” Salomon says, adding that he ran while being sleep-deprived in unusually frigid temperatures for Orlando, even in January. Typically, he runs four to six races each year and has cruised through the finish line in more than 20. He also runs with the Megayacht Milers, a co-ed running team comprised of captains and a marine journalist. The team took third place in the 2007 Riverwalk Run, a five-mile jaunt around the New River. He’s also training for a Palm Beach marathon relay in December.
Saloman and his wife, Betsy, have two teenage children, but he still has a lot of play left in him, as he’s a big kid at heart. “I’ve always been a fan of exercising and I get involved, doing new things.”
But it’s not just about getting the heart pumping for Saloman. He raises funds for charitable causes when he runs; one of his favorite causes is youth boating programs. “I do it because I can and want to,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun and I like helping people accomplish what they want to do.”
Even when he’s not actually on the run, he’s still part of it. Saloman coached his kids’ basketball and softball teams, and he volunteers to help in races even when he isn’t registered as a participant. He spent five hours separating and hanging 13,000 participant medals at the 2007 Disney Marathon Weekend, starting at 2:30 a.m.
What’s more, Saloman sets a high bar for himself and the Hall of Fame Marina. He’s a certified marina manager, a professional designation awarded to less than 200 marina managers worldwide. Hall of Fame Marina reaps the benefits of Scott’s expertise and was awarded Fort Lauderdale’s “First Clean Marina” honor for going above and beyond the average marina’s standards.
All those accolades, combined with being steps from Fort Lauderdale’s beach-bodies and megayachts for 24 years could give him an inflated ego, but Saloman keeps it real every day. He spends a lot of time picking up trash. “It’s the least glamorous part of my job,” he says. “I did a pump-out this morning and I deal with cleaning toilets and the bathrooms. Yes, I have a terrific water view but I do work. In between taking care of our guests, I pick up garbage and keep the marina looking good.”
And it seems that Saloman isn’t the only one who’s garnered fame under the same principles of hard work and dedication. Saloman went to high school with Johnny Depp in Miramar, Florida, and was in two of his classes. Their science teacher still gets e-mails from Depp and then forwards them to Saloman. “My parents said to stay in school if I ever wanted to amount to anything...but Johnny did all right for himself.”