Long before Mayor Marc Laredo decided to run for office, he loved to just run. And an old friend has brought him a reminder of that simpler time.

After Thursday’s inauguration ceremony was over, Laredo’s old friend and fellow Newton North Class of 1977 graduate, Neal Syphers, presented the new mayor with a cross-country jersey from their senior year.

Making the jersey even more special is the fact that the design for Newton North track jerseys was changed shortly afterward.

Syphers met Laredo when they were in second grade at Cabot Elementary School, and they grew up a block away from each other in Newtonville.

Laredo ran track and cross-country at Newton North and served as cross-country captain.

“The track team in ’77 was undefeated,” Syphers said. “Everyone from Quincy to Weymouth to Brockton to Dedham—they beat everybody. Then they went to the state invitationals and won that. Then they went to the New England invitationals, and they won that.”

Syphers said he never would have guessed back in school that his friend would one day be mayor of the city.

The jersey will hang in the mayor’s office as a reminder of his roots and what can happen when someone keeps running.