2021 RunBlogRun, week # 5, Summer mileage, day 7

It was in the fall of 1975 that Dave Hughes and I became friends.

It was about nine months since I had moved from St. Louis, Missouri to San Jose, California. The changes were severe. My accent was teased, and I was the slowest guy on the team at Bellarmine. I liked school and my new home, but it was tough getting teased and I did not know how to make friends.

So, over the summer, after my Coach told me to "run more", I had run 10-18 miles a day, losing fifteen pounds, but also, moving from last to the middle of the pack, that my cross country team was okay with me. Dave was one of the top 400m guys on the team, and a solid cross country runner, top five on the team.

Men's 1,500, June 27, 2021, U.S. Olympic Trials, photo by Kevin Morris /Kevmofoto

Bob Lucas had won his first race, the JV race at the first race of the season, and would replace me on the Varsity team. Bob and I battled over that position all season, and in spite of it, we became lifelong friends.

We were in about our third week of training. Our coach liked hills, so that was the plan for the day.

We were to run a nine-mile run-up Bear Creek road, by Lexington Dam. Somehow, David and I got into a groove and ran the whole way up (5 miles) and down together. We were friends by the time we reached the bottom.

Dave had a surfer sense of humor and helped me loosen up. We see each other at reunions and send notes over Facebook, but I think to that time when he could have ignored me over a long run, but he did not.

Long runs change lives.