The joy of running in Reno in the 70s and 80s. Those were terrific times. Frank Shorters victory in the mens marathon in 1972 is credited with inspiring the running boom. In Reno at 4500 it was my good friend Skip Houk. When I think of running in Reno, I think of Skip. He was always blazing down the streets and won a marathon in Denver (the newspaper called him Reno Smoothie) and many ultra marathons as well as the Journal Jog when the Columbians were not dominating. Skip coached and trained several great runners including the late Ron Eller who was recently inducted into the Northern Nevada Athletics Hall of Fame. Skip still can be seen running the streets of Reno. He is one hell of a man! I started running in Black Converse All-Stars in 1972, and bought a pair of blue New Balance, one of the 1st running shoes on the market. I had blown out a lung in an auto accident and my Dr. thought that jogging would be good for me. Eventually my entire family became runners and we were featured on PM Magazine, a nationally syndicated television show. It was a way of life, our religion. Buce Susong, now passed, coached the Silver State Striders Juniors and produced several age group National Champions including my youngest son Jake. Jakes older brother Clint came in 2nd twice. (Xctry) Every year we would trek to Hayward Field in Eugene (Track City) for the prestiguous Invitational with the Striders. It was fabulous! The kids did really well there. Thanks for the generosity of your time and dedication Bruce! RIP The road races in the area were great..The Journal Jog, Silver State Marathon, Spaughis Relay, Tahoe Relay were so fine and I dont think that we missed a one, before we moved to Scottsdale in 89. Everyone in my family would usually medal except for me, My wife Gerry was quite a good long legged runner and she also loved those times. I always ran as hard as I could, was perhaps a decent runner and loved it. On my 40th birthday (1987) with a hangover, I went to the UNR track and ran a 63 sec 400 and collapsed after I hit stop on my stop watch. I was in incredible running condition for the 400 and 800, having trained with the Jr. Striders on the track. We usually ran from the YMCA on Foster and I practically grew up there, as well as my kids. My favorite runs were out to the Mayberry Bridge and the hills of Skyline. I loved to run the hills! My main running partners were Willie Molini, John Buehler, Buzz Moore, Jim van Winkle John Latourette and Kent Robison. Willie and I ran the San Francisco marathon. Our first. Then in 89 we moved to Zona. Clint dedicated himself to basketball in Arizona but Jake continued with xctry, track and played basketball in HS. Neither runs anymore. Gerry and I mostly hike but I still give running a go when the spirit strikes me. (Very slow) Im older now but still running against the wind
Posted on: Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:26:12 +0000
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