Are You Still Running Bill? (Part 2)

Spring 1978. I was a graduate student at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and finishing a teaching internship at Eastern AZ College in Safford. Just completed the Tucson Marathon, feeling really good about accomplishing my goal of simply running 26 miles.

While thrilled at completing the distance, it was also a pivotal point for my “sense of self.” Having self-defined my persona (and ego) as a team sport athlete (hockey) – I realized a few very important things:

1) I was an endurance athlete with slow twitch muscle fibers
2) This was a lifetime fitness activity that could keep me mentally and physically strong
3) My participation in this activity was motivating to other people

Returning to Flagstaff to complete my degree work, I started a weekly Runner’s World magazine Fun Run for beginners, while also organizing the Big Bear 10 Miler at Fort Tuthill.

“Gonzo running” might be an apt description of our running adventures in Flagstaff. We formed the Flagstaff Track Club for the local runners, enjoying many post-run/race margarita parties at a local Mexican restaurant.

And I signed-up for the 1978 Boston Marathon. Partly for the experience, partly to visit my parents who lived in Lynnfield (my hometown), about 20 miles north of Boston.

Two friends, Tommy Hensley and Rusty Knott, joined me for the trip back to my home state for the race in April. These two guys, both living in 7,000 foot-high Flagstaff (Tommy a student at NAU, Rusty a Flagstaff native), initially encouraged me to try racing. The accompanying photo was taken in 1978 at my parent’s home. (L to R: Rusty Knott, Tommy Hensley, me)

The 1978 Boston Marathon was a “thriller” in many ways. The Boston Globe reported that a “record 4,674 runners” participated in the race. (This year 22, 849 runners finished!) Bill Rodgers, my running hero, outlasted Nike’s Athletics West runner Jeff Wells by two seconds at the finish line. Wells, realizing he had “way too much left” after the half-marathon mark, put the pedal to the metal and almost caught “Boston Billy” at the Prudential Center.

But more on Nike/Jeff Wells in part three. Both would play a pivotal role in my life in the very near future.

I finished the 1978 Boston Marathon, my second 26-mile endeavor, in 3:03. Having cut about twenty-five minutes from my Tucson Marathon race I wondered “Wow…I must be in decent shape…I wonder how much faster I can go?”

Over the next five years I would find out. And my passion for running and fitness would lead me to Oregon, then New Hampshire, marriage, and around the world.

My initial reasons for “training” were changing. Challenging my own physical limits was not enough. How could I do against other runners my age? My competitive flame, which I thought had burned out playing college-level hockey, was starting to ignite again.

Stay tuned….