Dick Macknick Hall of Fame Member Homer Glen

Other than the short runs required in school PT classes and those required by the army, I was never a runner. By my early 40's, I was in a largely sedentary job, with no physical regimen other than golf. My son, Dave, was on the high school XC team, and was enthusiastic about running. On July 15, 1979, I crushed out my last cigarette after a golf outing (finished second), we left on a family vacation the next morning which included a stop in Colorado at Frank Shorter's running store, where I bought my first running shoes ($5.00 closeouts of discontinued Brooks model, which came with a free T-shirt).

There was (and still is) an XC Thanksgiving Day series of races in Thornton @ Wampum Lake. High school runners had a 3 mile course, adults had a 2 mile course. In the fall of 1979, the concept occurred to me that I would try to run the 2 mile course in the same amount of time that Dave would run the 3 mile course (about 17:00). Surreptitiously, when I took the dog out for an evening walk, I would start to run. Only managed a few hundred yards at first, but gradually improved over the next few weeks.

My first race was that 2 mile XC on Thanksgiving Day, 1979, running with our dog. But until I registered on race day, no one , not even family members knew I could run. Which I did, and with no concept of what it was to run an XC race, and totally inappropriate running wear, yet managed to meet the goal I had set. I didn't know it then, but at age 42 I had become a runner.

There were nowhere near as many races then as there are today. A local running group would have timed runs around a 1 mile loop of city streets every weekend. The Park Forest Running and Pancake Club sponsored some 5 races each year. Running farther and faster just seemed to happen by finding races to run.

Setting PR's also just seemed to happen: Park Forest annual 1 mile: 5:37, Beecher 5k : 18:51; Jimmys Hammond 10k: 39:08, Lake County Marathon: 3:07:15 (but I was just a kid, only 50!). Qualified for Boston 3 times: best 3:45, worst 3:49. But PR's are long in the past, and PW's are common.

When the River to River Relay, 80 miles across southern Illinois, started in 1988, I was on a team for the first running, and have been a team captain for over 15 years. Our team had won awards, including setting records in the '90's. I was honored in their Hall of Fame. Now we are just there for fun.

Over 25 years ago I became a member of PFRPC. Over 20 years ago I had signed up for the Calstriders Gold Cup. When I moved to Will County a dozen years ago I joined PSRR. I remain a member of all three clubs for all those years. There are so many fine, fine folks in the running community who have become friends. Club membership has bonus rewards. And going to races and meeting club members is a primary reason to run.

Six years ago I retired after 41 years, 1 month, 28 days, with a major insurance carrier, where I was handling claims for catastrophic injury. Currently I work as a consultant on significant injury claims. I have quite a bit more time to run, but I don't take advantage of it. Usually I try to get out two or three times a week, for perhaps 10 miles per week. I run some and walk some, maybe 12 mpm. The back of the pack has more fun than the front of the pack. I'll be there.

Very soon after I started running, I recognized that there could be no race unless there were volunteers. I made a conscious, moral, ethical decision that runners cannot be just "takers" but must be "givers". Every race needs to have directors and split timers and road guards and people for registration and results and all the many duties to put on a race. Every runner must give something back. so you'll see me out there at the 1 mile mark, or water stop, and I hope you'll do the same.

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