Lou was a little hesitant to ask me to do this , but David Rockitter egged him on and I agreed to keep it PG Rated and promised not to insult anyone .
So here I go …………
I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t running . From the moment I took my first steps , I’m pretty sure my Dad put a baseball bat in my hand and edged me toward sports (mostly baseball). I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t encouraged or shown the importance of running in sports . My Dad would work 8 to 12 hours a day , but came home and played catch , pitched to me ,and even raced me! He basically did whatever sporting activity I wanted EVERYDAY !!! Reading this , you would think that I would grow up to be a professional athlete , but , as my father said ” The Beatles ruined everything !”.
I also had reasons outside my family life that made running a necessity .
I guess my friends and myself had some serious problems , because we were always doing things that made us have to run . So between being a trouble maker and having the obligatory A.D.D. Hyperactivity thing going for me , I got really fast . They tried to medicate me , but it never really took !LOL
Then there were two things that coincided that made me start to fall in love with Running when I was in 6th grade . One thing was my Dad telling me that I should find a sport to concentrate on in the baseball offseason and the other thing was that I had a Gym teacher that was a running enthusiast .
We did the 600 Yd Dash in Gym and he tried to get the class enthused by giving out wall hanging running logs . The teacher’s name was Dan Ingegno and that running log really inspired me . I made it my goal to join the X-Country team when I got in Jr. High . Dan Ingegno is now a GLIRC member and I’m glad that I’ve gotten the chance to know him and thank him in the years that we have run into each other at races .
I had all the makings to become a great runner , if it wasn’t for those damn Beatles . The rock and roll lifestyle really conflicts with my running and fitness lifestyle . I could just about balance it until college . I was still playing baseball and running , but there were a hell of a lot more chicks around in the bars where the rock and roll was ! I ended up getting thrown out of college for beating up a rock and roll acquaintance during a class . At that point I threw it all in towards rock and roll . I never worried about the future . After all , How long could I possibly live ? 23 ? 24 maybe ? So I put school aside and stayed working at the family business , while was a ceramic store . I formed bands and partied like there was no tomorrow , but through it all , I never stopped running . From 1979 to 1983 was a blur ,but I did manage to race once or twice a year . There weren’t too many races to choose from back then .
In 1984 I had the opportunity to join a buddy of mine at his job on the back of a garbage truck . I had so much fun . It was just like working out all day long . The bosses at my friends job loved me and asked me if I’d like a full time job . The timing couldn’t have been better . The ceramics craze of the late ’70s early ’80s was coming to an end and it seemed like the right time to go out of business. So I became a garbage man . The great thing about being a garbageman on Long Island is that , the faster you go ,,,,the faster you get done !! So I go in and race everyday ! I never worked a forty hour week in my life ! This gave me plenty of time to work on music !
A major change was about to come in my life . One day at work someone threw out a copy of ISLANDWIDE RUNNER . At the time this magazine was ” Long Island’s Running Bible” . It had race info and applications . I picked a race (The Great Pine Run in Holbrook ) and jumped back into the running scene. I was hooked on running in a big way from that point on ! I still rocked and partied too much , but ,,,So What ! I’ve been on the L.I. running scene since that day . Over the years I would lose focus a little bit because of the music and booze , but I always knew that I’d be racing soon and it would pull me back out of my haze .
The next big breakthrough for me was the day that Mike Polansky asked me to join GLIRC . I wish that I’d have joined his club a lot sooner , but i’m real shy and to timid to do that . It has really helped me stay focused on running and put me in touch with so many great people ! So I joined GLIRC ended up on the men’s team(Where I became friends with Lou) and I’ve never had so much fun with the sport !
I’m gonna’ cut this short at this point ,as not to bore you any longer !
So in ending ,,,Running has always been good to me ! Without it , I would be dead ! It has always pulled me away from my bad habits !
I hope running helps you in life , as much as it has helped me !
Thanks for listening !