OK, this is my first (and only) marathon story:

I flew in to West Palm Beach a day early by myself for the “Marathon of the Palm Beaches”. My friends were to meet me the following day. I strolled over to the Expo after checking in to my hotel to pick my bag, bib and look at all the marathon toys.

After about an hour or so, I headed back to the hotel with the goodie bag over my shoulder. It was late afternoon and I found myself walking alone up the street…no one else around. After a block or two, I heard footsteps coming up from behind and then a voice asking, “So, are you racing Sunday?” I replied that I was and turned to find an ordinary looking fellow, about my same age, walking beside me. He was dressed in old, black jeans, a black t-shirt with something unrecognizable printed on it and his hair was light red and rather disheveled. He looked as though he was getting off his shift at Pizza Hut or maybe was out delivering papers or something. There was nothing remarkable about the man other than he was very thin. He was about my same height (5’10”) but easily 30 pounds lighter. I clutched my bag tighter and was conscious of my wallet. J

Our conversation went something like this:

Him: Which race are you running?

Me: The 5k on Saturday as a warm-up and the marathon on Sunday. What about you? Are you running?

Him: No. I don’t do marathons anymore. Sometimes I’ll do a half.

Me: Yeah, I like halves, too. All the fun without the pain. That is probably the smart thing to do…hah, hah.

Him: Are you from around here?

Me: No, I’m from Texas.

Him: Really? What part?

Me: Houston.

Him: Oh, yeah. I know Houston. I won the Houston Marathon once. I think it was 1981.

(Now, I turned and REALLY looked at this guy.)

Me: Really? You won Houston?

Him: Yeah.

Me: Well, I’m Tom Arnold. It’s nice to meet you!

Him: Hi. I’m Bill Rodgers.

Of course, I was floored. We walked all the way back to the hotel together…chatting all the way. He gave me tons of advice and told me stories of some of his early races, how he got into marathoning, etc. Amazing guy. If you ever see him at a race, don’t be shy…walk right up to him and say “Hi”. A true gentleman if there ever was one.

(Picture: Bill and me at a pre-marathon fund-raiser dinner. Cheers!)