YR: If you can, please describe how/why you got into running.

GERRY: I started running in Junior High School. I was so slow and uncoordinated the coach set me up with a paper route so that instead of going to work out after school I went to the corner of Providence Ave at Crestline St. and picked up a bundle of 15 newspapers. My route was spread over 2.5 miles of lumber yards in a small community near the school. I hardly ever ran with the team and when I did get to run in races, I usually finished last. I got into running because I was too uncoordinated to play baseball, too small for basketball, and too tiny for football. I lived in a broken home and had looked to those sports as a way of staying away from my home.

YR; What did you like about running?

GERRY: In the beginning there was NOTHING I liked about running. It was hard! My legs ached so badly I could hardly walk. I was so far behind everyone else on the XC team I ran all by myself. I just wanted to quit running. My coach, Tracy Walters, took me aside and told me that I had an opportunity few people ever get. He said that I could inspire the whole team because I was so small and unathletic. People would see me working hard and they would want to work even harder. From his talk onward, I tried to lead. I was there to help his team get better and I did that by sprinting out too fast and making everyone work hard to catch and pass me.