Family Reunion
There is more than a bit of wistfulness in the smoke-tinged air here in Eugene, Oregon for these 2008 Olympic Trials. Last night after Tyson Gay’s best-ever men’s 100-meters - forget the wind or the geo-magnetic Allen Belt, ain’t nobody ever ran faster anywhere, anytime - one of a myriad of reunions took place up in the hills outside Eugene at the home of Steve Dinatale.
Organized by George “Malmo” Malley, the one-time American record holder in the steeplechase and half marathon, the boys from the Greater Boston Track Club reassembled in this Eugene summer wearing wider girths, and carrying shorter strides than in their 1970’s heyday. But with their spiritual leader, Tommy Leonard, the founder of the Falmouth Road Race on Cape Cod, and presiding bartender at the legendary Eliot Lounge in Boston’s Back Bay, the gang from the GBTC and friends found the clock turned back to the days when they sought glory on the tracks and roads as one of the country’s premier gatherings of running talent.
“George Malley was the driving force,” said the 74 year-old Leonard from his perch on the Dinatale front porch. “He invited friends from my 25 years at the Eliot Lounge, and 35 years at the Falmouth Road Race, and given me a dream come true.
“Toni, as you know, I have a tendency to embellish, but I have a quote from my favorite movie of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life. At the end it was said of George Bailey, “No man is a failure who has friends.” And I’m a billionaire right now with the friends I have.”
There must have been 50-75 people in attendance, including GBTC coach Bill Squires who mentored Bill Rodgers to four New York and Boston Marathon wins and Alberto Salazar when he first became known as “The Rookie” while training with the big boys as a high schooler in Wayland, Mass. (Al had planned to be with us, but under doctors orders had returned home to Portland to rest after suffering from elevated blood pressure). Also on hand were 1984 Olympic marathon gold medallist Joan Benoit Samuelson and family, 1978 Falmouth runner-up Mike Roche, Scotty Graham, 2:10 marathoner Bobby Hodge, Malley, Brad Hurst and so many more.
Food and drink were in abundance, but what resonated most was the feeling of good fortune that the times of one’s youth spent in such company could be so easily resurrected in the pine trees high above Eugene, even as the new generation created their own memories down in Hayward Field. One day they will reassemble, as well, and relive the kind of moments which we reminisced about for ourselves last night. Tommy had it right, it has been a wonderful life.
END
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