Growing up in the San Fernando Valley
north of Los Angeles in the early 60's is key to the life long love of
running in my life. There I attended William H. Taft High School and
did not start running until 10th grade track season. Thinking I had
some sort of athletic propensity after breaking six minutes in a P.E.
mile run on the track, I attempted to run the 660 yard dash for the "C"
team the following Track & Field season. In those days, there were
so many kids going out for track they had to break it into "C", "B" and
Varsity squads. I quickly learned that running fast for a sustained
distance took allot of effort. Determined to improve my running, I ran
during the summer to get ready for Cross Country season. Our coaches
did not encourage us to meet as a team during the summers as is the
norm today. Running through the streets, beside rail road tracks and
up along Mulhuland Drive became a friend I loved being with. Long easy
runs that quickly passed away the hours. Without knowing it or even
hearing of it I was challenging myself by throwing bouts of speed from
telephone to telephone pole, trying to out run the dogs that would
chase me, whatever I felt like doing to make it fun. Eventually, I
learned that this type of running had a name, Fartlek, the Swedish term
for "speed play". By the 12th grade Cross Country season, I was ready
to challenge the Valley's best Jr. Varsity runners and won our first
pre-season meet handily. But, the coaches had better ideas and moved me
up to Varsity, were once again I was being beat on a regular basis. In
the up coming track season, my last in High School, I was determined to
be number one in the Valley and L.A. City in the "B" 1320 yard run. I
starved myself to make the 125 lb weight limit for the "B" division.
But after running a 3:19 at a school pre-season time trial, I was moved
up to the Varsity mile. There I did improve enough to place third in
our League Finals to qualify for the L.A. City Pre-lims. It was in that
race, I first experienced what is so fondly known in running as "rigor
mortis". I was determined to make it out of the pre-lims to the finals.
All I had to do was to place in the top three. During the first three
laps, I tried to keep in the third position, which meant allot of
surging past runners that would try to move up. There I was, in third,
rounding the last curve. I knew I could hang on if the pace stayed the
same. But of course, that's when everyone kicks and I had none left. As
the field flew by me, the "rig" set in, the legs would not do as I
demanded. That's what I remember about my final High School race. I
don't even remember the finish or what place I finally took. During my
final High School track season, I also took up Race Walking and had the
pleasure of being invited to the Long Beach Invitational and Mt SAC
Invitational Track & Field Meets.
That summer, I ran the now popular L.A. Pierce College all-comer meets.
That's were I had the most fun and ran my best times. I did attend L.A.
Pierce College and ran on the Cross Country and Track teams and made
some life long friends.
The running heroes of that period were,
Jim Beatty,
Jim
Grelle,
and
Peter Snell. It was also my
pleasure to have been coached very breifly by one the great coaches of
that day, Mihaly Igloi who also coached Jim Beatty and Jim Grelle. But
the motorcycle ride from the Valley to Culver City proved too much when
after working all day, commuting, practice and catching myself falling
asleep while on my way back home.
I still enjoy running today, but as I age, I find that my running is
confined to those periods of times between injuries. I'll always love
running and will never voluntarily give it up.
Here are my PR's:
880 yd -
2:07 (en route to
mile) (converts to 2:06 800m)
1 Mile -
4:32 (converts to
4:14 1500m)
2 Mile -
10:04 (converts to
10:01 3200m and 9:23 3000m)
3 Mile -
15:48 (not many 5K's
in those days but converts to 16:22 5K)
3000 M Steeplechase -
10:31 (converts
to 7:01 2000m Steeple)
It's amazing what sticks in a runners mind about there own experience.
It's unique to them and becomes a part of there character.
Back