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At the end of the rainbow

May 23, 2020 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Comments:
Anthony and I headed into northern Rock Creek Park so I could show him the secret trail I discovered last week that he apparently didn’t know about. At the end of the trail was a pot of gold, metaphorically speaking: 1991-1999 GDS cross country and track coach Bill Sollars! We joined him for a few hundred yards and then the three of us stopped at the intersection of Beach Drive and Wise Road. There we commenced to have a brief chat that went on for approximately 35 minutes about everything from Bill’s mile and 4x4 races at Maryland State against Olympians in the early 60s to what the GDS program was like prior to Anthony’s arrival. (Ask me sometime about the head shaving challenge.) Bill is still racing in his mid-80s, and up until last year had never taken more than 26 days off consecutively from running since the 1950s. He’s recovering from injury now and says he will not reach his lifetime goal of 100 marathons not because he’s too old but because he doesn’t have time to train. 86 marathons is pretty good though, as is running 5K‘s at a 10:30 pace when you’ve been running for seven decades. As we were talking a chiseled and fit looking 70-year-old on his bike paused nearly and appeared to be eavesdropping. I suspected he must be a track fan. Sure enough, after a little while he wandered over and introduced himself, and it turns out he too is a local masters running legend who Anthony (no surprise) recognized. Two other people Anthony knew also passed by and waved hi as we talked,one of whom is Desmond Dunham,the coach at St. John’s. Honestly, this was the best run I could possibly have asked for today.

And if you ever see an 80-something-year-old African-American gentleman jogging in Rock Creek Park on a Saturday morning, try yelling Bill and see what happens. You may just be treated to a runner’s story-time with one of the best running storytellers around.