1991 - "One and Done, I Thought!!!"

Kenneth Williams

I began running in 1977, just after returning from a trip where I met a guy who had "run a marathon." That sounded like a neat thing to do, so I decided I’d like to try it.

I had no running experience, other than trying to prepare for high school football, a sport I participated in only until the coach first handed out uniforms. Needless to say, this disappointing event marked a lackluster end to my short football journey.

The morning after I returned from the trip, November 2nd, 1977, I laced on my Converse Tennis Shoes and went to the Corinth High School football field and onto the cinder track. I ran a half mile. I rather enjoyed it, and ran well (little did I know the unkempt oval around CHS field was far less than a quarter mile!).

I continued and progressed with distance, endurance and speed. I trained all through the winter and towards spring, felt I was about ready to pick a marathon. Early summer I chose a "Big City" marathon, with all the hype, Chicago. The race was in its second year and was HUGE - 9,000 runners, perhaps the largest marathon at that time. Mid-September, my buddy, Terry, and I ran the Chicago Marathon.

1991 - "After the rain chased my family from the finish line, I finished alone, but elated!"

Gerald Holbrook

I only began running at age 51. I ran my first Marathon after 21 months as a runner. It was the Memphis Express Marathon, and I ran in 3:58:07 at age 53. Over the next eleven years, I ran a total of 17 Marathons, until after knee surgery, I followed the doctor’s advice and cut back to no more than 20 miles per week.

Like most runners who love running Marathons, I began to wonder if I could qualify to run Boston. By 1988 I had been elected President of Memphis Runners Track Club, and I was leader and director of a local program to prepare runners for running a Marathon.

At the end of that preparation was the Memphis Marathon, the first Sunday in December. I conducted the same Marathon training group in 1989 with my personal goal to qualify for Boston at the Memphis Marathon. I was now 58 years old and needed 3:35 to qualify