Jackie Phillips - Hanging in There

Jackie was born and raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana.  Jackie parlayed her good grades in business subjects, shorthand awards, and typing skills into her first job after High School graduation as the secretary/treasurer of the South Side High School, the high school she attended.  This was unfamiliar territory as Jackie had never been to the principal’s office as a student!  Jackie admitted that early in life she “never set the bar very high for her life goals”.  She enjoyed the work because as far back as she could remember, she wanted to be a good secretary.  After two years on the job, Jackie married a soldier and moved to Germany, from there, relocated to Biloxi, Mississippi, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and then Fort Benning in Columbus, GA.  When the dust settled at Fort Benning, Jackie had two babies and was content to be a stay at home mom.  Shortly after arriving at Fort Benning, her husband was deployed to Vietnam.  Unfortunately, their marriage dissolved after his return from the war.  The husband moved on with the Army and Jackie stayed in Columbus, which has been home ever since. 

The divorce necessitated that Jackie become employed again.  She was offered a job with a manufacturing firm, as a secretary at Wipo, Inc, which manufactured industrial wiping cloth.  Another “dream job” that she enjoyed for the next sixteen years.  In 1991 Jackie transitioned to clerical work in a physician’s office, and is still employed with the same group of physicians transcribing medical records.  Jackie remarried in 1974 to an Army retiree. They were married for sixteen plus years when he was tragically killed in a house fire.  Although Jackie still works full time, she spends her quiet time reading, taking care of her cats, and traveling to races. 

Jackie started walking initially for weight control and transitioned into running.  Her first race she recalls was the Americus 5/10K in 1980.  She found the entry form in a local shoe store and began to ask where was Americus!  At that race, Jackie peaked in two blocks and walked/ran the rest of the race, finishing the 5K with some of the 10K runners.  The time didn’t matter, but the endorphins did as Jackie was hooked on running.  The camaraderie, the crowd support, and the feeling of accomplishment are worth the effort.  Her late husband used to tell friends that “running is the only thing that Jackie ever stuck with”.  After thirty-seven years of running she is still out there with us.        

Jackie’s PR’s are: 5K-21:23 in Montgomery; 10K-44:10 in the Rose City Run in Thomasville, and 1:44 for a Macon Half Marathon.  She has ran three marathons, and remarks that that was “two too many!”  The two were the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, DC, the New York City Marathon, and one in Portland, Oregon.   Jackie, like most senior members of the running community, have found that her times have doubled as their age doubles.  Her granddaughter Allyson Barron travels with Jackie to most races. Her two favorite half marathons are the “Teardrop half” in Chatsworth, GA and “The Scream” in Jonas Ridge, North Carolina.  Jackie has enjoyed participating in the Greater Atlanta Athletes Series.  Her goal in 2017 is to run twelve half marathons, and “maybe” eighteen in 2018.  This total includes the Publix Half and Thanksgiving Half in Atlanta, the Soldier’s Half in Columbus, and the Snickers Half in Albany.  Jackie consistently ranks high in her age group, including the 70-74 female of which she is now a member.  Not too many years back Jackie came is second overall female in points in the Run and See Georgia Grand Prix series.  She is considered the premier senior female runner in the Columbus, GA area.  Her maternal grandmother lived to the young age of one hundred and three and her paternal grandmother also one hundred.  Her granddaughter Allyson has agreed to take over the driving duties enroute to races when Jackie turns 90.      

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profile of David Beeland, and Veronica Doster. 

Jim Merritt - The Day NEVER Ends

Jim Merritt was the second of four children born to Lois and Lula Merritt in November 1947.  Just for the record, Jim’s father was named Lois.  This was almost like the Johnny Cash hit a boy named Sue before anybody thought about it!  Jim, like Bob Slowpants, grew up in the hills of Tennessee.  He graduated from Rutledge High School in 1965.  Jim attended Hiwassee Junior College in Athens, Tennessee for two years and obtained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Secondary Education and Phycology with a minor in Biology from Tennessee Wesleyan University.

Jim began his career as a public-school teacher in the spring of 1969 and continued in that profession until 1974.  Jim taught middle school, with 5^th grade being his favorite.  His second career was as a Greyhound bus driver after the movie “Midnight Cowboy” became popular.  Jim drove those buses hard until sidelined by a strike in 1990.  Jim began a third career as a delivery driver for a printing company in Lawrenceville, GA until retiring in 2014. 

Jim and his wife Linda celebrated thirty-one years together in August.  Jim describes this as the “second go-around” for both.  Jim has four children from his first marriage and Linda has two from her first marriage.  For those keeping score, Jim has eleven grandchildren, all produced by his four children.   

Jim and LindaBoth Jim and Linda had been smokers since they were teenagers.  Linda was diagnosed in the summer of 1998 with emphysema and they both ceased smoking.  Jim feels it was a misdiagnosis, but he accepted it as a wake-up call.  About a month after Jim stopped smoking, he found he was adding weight.  He tried walking it off but, in a fit of impatience, began running.  His first run was a half mile and Jim thought he was going to die!  Shortly thereafter Jim was doing pre-dawn runs before he went to work. Jim ran his first race in the spring of 1999, the Heart Trek 10K.  Speed dialing to the present, Jim has participated in three hundred and seventy-nine races, with majority being 5K distances.  He was running on almost every day except Sunday.  Jim began to wonder on October 28,2001 (a Sunday!) how many runs in a row he might be able to string together if he included running on Sunday.  When Jim completed his run on October 28th, he has completed sixteen years of running without missing a single day.  Even die hard Georgia Runner Grand Prix and Black bag participants cannot say this!   

 Jim has concentrated on trail runs the last seven years, competing in the Dirty Spokes series and occasionally in the Georgia Runner Grand Prix and Back Bag series.  The photo of Jim with a torch is from the Senior Games in Birmingham, Alabama in June 2017 when Jim was honored as the lead runner for the opening games ceremonies.  In 2017, Jim has a goal of 1390 miles.  If he succeeds his total as of December 31, 2017 will be an amazing 20,000 miles.  Jim is a member of the United States Running Streak Association and currently is one hundred and eleventh on the active streak list.  Four competitors of Jim’s have forty-five years of consecutive daily running.  Jim prides himself on having a short term and long-term goal.  Short term is to run tomorrow! As of September 16^th, Jim has completed a total of five thousand and eight hundred and one consecutive days.  His long-term goal is to run every day the rest of his life!  Jim has been running at least a mile a day despite a pesky left knee problem.  When you are Jim and a streak runner, there are no days off!       

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profiles of Columbus runner Jackie Phillips, and David Breeland.