Gary Hosmer was born on February 11, 1951 in Columbus, Ohio. His father, Air Force pilot Sam Hosmer, flew P-47s in World War II, and survived, what history confirms was, a 50% survivor rate. Hence, Gary is lucky to be here today! His mother Ruth was a stay at home mom who was expecting a Valentine’s baby.
;)
After moving several times in Gary’s formative years, his father’s final assignment was at Homestead Air Force Base (AFB) south of Miami. Gary recalls being a “very scared eleven-year-old kid in 1962 during… the Cuban missile crisis”. Homestead AFB was a mere ninety miles from Cuba. Gary recalls grade school exercises where he practiced climbing under his desk and putting his head down.
Gary graduated from the University of Florida in 1973 with a degree in Business Administration. His first and only job was as a federal Government Service employee specializing in Human Resources. Gary initially worked for the Department of Defense (DOD) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and later at Fort McPherson in Atlanta for nineteen years. Gary later transferred to the Environmental Protection Agency in Atlanta where he worked in HR for another seventeen years.
;)
As for Gary’s illustrious running experience, he always considered himself a good athlete. He was a “pretty fast sprinter for but not more than 600 yards, but never played in organized sports”. Gary’s first running foray was participating in JFK’s Presidential Council on Physical Fitness standards, which included the 600-yard run/walk. In 1979 Gary participated in his first race the Fort McPherson Roadrunner Classic with a goal of avoiding a beer paunch (he does not imbibe now) with a 23-minute finish time. Gary’s newfound commitment to running resulting in meeting his wife of twenty-two years, Patrice, while running trails at Cochran Shoals, later marrying her on a running trail at Kennesaw Mountain. This must be what Roy Rogers used to sing as “happy trails to you”!
Gary became serious about training in 1986 and in the next five years ran PRs in every distance from 5K to marathons as follows: 5K-17.44 (Macon), 10K-37:44 (Charles Harris in Lawrenceville), 15K-58:38 (Peachtree City), half marathon-1:23:52 (Gary acknowledges probably his best race ever on the old Atlanta half marathon course), and marathon -3:02:13 (Chickamauga). Gary ran his first of thirty-six Peachtree Road Races in 1980 breaking his string in 2016 due to a knee problem. Gary has been a staunch volunteer for the Atlanta Track Club since 1988, and was recognized as volunteer of the month in September 2015.
;)
Gary stays trim running and is easily recognized as the male runner now over sixty-five years old, running without a shirt. He has slowed down but is more than competitive as he “still loves to race for age group awards and age/current PRs”. Gary acknowledges he “really loves the camaraderie and support received at races. I have made so many friends and acquaintances over the years that it is truly amazing”. He lauds Gary Jenkins for what he has done for the sport of running as “the Grand Prix was a great idea and was instrumental in getting hundreds if not thousands of people running”. He is also glad that Gary Jenkins has quit running as he is in Hosmer’s age group and “used to smoke him by at least thirty seconds per mile”.
Bob checking out from the back of the pack. Watch for the profile on Victoria Patrick and profile of Buddy Davis.