John Johnson - Run to Lose Weight or Lose Weight to Run

John is from Theodore, Alabama, south of Mobile.  Any further south and you will be in Mobile Bay!  John followed the south Alabama herd to Auburn University after graduating from Theodore High School in 1981.  His Facebook page acknowledges that he “studied but couldn’t concentrate at Auburn University”.  John refers to the term “freshman 15” to describe the weight many collegian’s gain their first academic year.  John must have accidently enrolled in the agricultural studies program as he gained fifty pounds to a weight of 275 pounds.  He was deemed ready for market.  John dieted and lost forty pounds dining on the left-over prison food served in the university food service facility.

John found it more difficult to eat healthy the first summer quarter on campus.  He elected to run to supplement his diet.  He did not want to run on the track where the “real runners” were, so he elected to run inside the Auburn University Basketball coliseum.  As opposed to the campus streets, John has less risk in the day of pre-GPS watches of getting lost running in circles.  Six laps around was a mile, and he gradually increased to three miles a day without getting bored.  The three miles was a determined length based on a response from a fraternity brother to John’s inquiry about how far he ran.  The response must have made a significant impression on John as three miles has become his preferred distance for now over thirty years and counting.  John laments if the response had been five miles, “he would probably be a much better runner today!”      

John’s weight was down to 195 pound his sophomore year when he left the “lovely plains of Auburn” for the U.S. Air Force.  John was eight years short of being a lifer, only remaining in the Air Force for twelve years.  He continued in the Air Force running three four times a week to control his weight.  Now John “loses weight to run”.  John and the Air Force mutually parted career paths in 1995.  John injured his back in 1994 and was advised by the Air Force quack that examined him “to never run again”.  As an aside John’s duties resulted in travel to unusual locations.  His most memorable run was on a trail around a Norwegian Flystation (Norwegian for air base) while on temporary duty in Norway for a month.

The Air Force restored John’s ability to concentrate as he graduated from Georgia College and State University with a B.A. in Management, a second B.A. in Computer Based Information Systems, and a Master in Management Information Systems.  He must have liked Milledgeville as post-graduate John still resides there.  John pursued a career as a Systems Analyst with the Board of Regents, University System of Georgia, and now is a Senior Applications Systems Analyst at his Alma Mater.  

Despite continuous discomfort from his back-injury, John began to run again in 2004 after a nine-year hiatus and has continued running for fourteen years plus.  His first foray back into racing was the 2004 Macon Labor Day 5K, completed in 34:10.  Since that race, John has logged more than two hundred 5K and 10K races, a few half marathons, and one full marathon. John observes he “loves seeing all the people enjoying themselves and running for those age group awards and t-shirts”.  Because John has such a common name, he began to register as “Wheels Johnson”, an Air Force era nickname.  John lived in Athens in the 2012-2013 period and was active in the Athens Road Runners, Run and See Georgia Grand Prix, Black Bag Race Series, and Clover Glove Race series.   John “has met so many good friends out there” that he “could not imagine stopping now!”      

Bob checking out from the back of the pack. Look for the profile of legal wizard Erica Shepley, and Winder’s favorite Clydesdale Mark Polson.

Amy Hall - Protecting us All

Amy alleges that she came from a long line of “non-exercisers”.  Yet her grandparents who raised her in rural Bleckley County, Georgia maintained their one-hundred-year old farmhouse, tended a half acre garden, and a granddaughter.  Her childhood was spent exploring creeks, searching for arrowheads, and fishing.  Amy had friends, but mostly entertained herself with these daytime activities and keeping her nose in a book in the evening.  Her grandparents instilled in her the importance of obtaining an education and working hard.  She remembers her grandmother shucking corn and freezing vegetables for the winter.  Amy recalls “many times I complained about being tasked with picking peas or butterbeans while fighting off gnats and sheer boredom, and I’m ashamed of myself!”

Her grandfather could fix anything, including Amy.  After a career in civil service in the procurement division at Robins Air Force Base, he opened “Tinker Tom’s Fix It Shop”.  Amy’s grandfather greatly influenced Amy’s early years with his service to his community tempered with a sense of humor and being a strict disciplinarian.  He was a former school board chairman, deacon in their community Baptist Church, and a veteran.  Amy played tennis, basketball, and was on the yearbook staff at Bleckley County High School.  After graduation she attended Middle Georgia College, Georgia College and State University, and later Mercer University graduating with a Master’s Degree in Family Therapy.  

Amy had a variety of jobs during her high school and college years from picking peaches to typesetting to tutoring Spanish.  Although not her native language, Amy was on track to become a Spanish teacher in college until she encountered a Spanish poetry class that changed her point of view!  She occasionally gave tennis lessons, and was even a courier.  Her first professional job was as a probation officer.  She later entered law enforcement and has served the past eight years in this capacity in the Atlanta Metro area.  The first rule of law enforcement is to not divulge enough personal information that would aid former arrestees to learn too much about a law enforcement official’s person or family, hence no additional information on Amy’s present duties.  Unfortunately our society has come to this juncture to allow our law enforcement personnel to go home safely at night.

December 19, 2013 Amy decided that her life needed an overhaul.  Amy quit smoking, and decided that she was going to train for a 5k race.  She had discussed smoking cessation because of her family health history with her physician for months but used the excuse of stress to avoid implementing the decision to do so.  Amy started utilizing the “Couch to 5k” APP.  She followed the program to the letter and on May 31, 2014 ran her first 5K, coming in fourth in her age group.  Amy enjoyed the race so much that she started running 5K’s every weekend.  She met running friends in the Clover Glove Series, Black Bag Race Series, Middle Georgia Runners for Christ Series, and the Decatur Grand Slam Series.  Her favorite races are the Monastery 5K held on the grounds of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, the Run with the Dogs in Decatur, and the Zombie Run held at the Guardian Center in Perry, Georgia.  Amy was first in the age 35-39 female age group in the Clover Glover Race Series in 2015, and fourth in the same very competitive age group in the Run and See Georgia Series and the Black Bag race Series.     

If you see Amy receiving an award at a race, take the time to thank her for her service as I do with this profile.  Bob checking out from the back of the pack. Look for the profiles on Jimmy Worley and Sue Chastain. 

Bill Tweedell - No Longer Dependent on Drugs

Melissa, Bill and HeatherWilliam (Bill) Lynn Tweedell was born in Sugar Valley (Gordon County), GA seventy-one years ago.  His family relocated to Athens, GA when Bill was in the first grade, later moving to nearby Bogart when Bill was in second grade.  His father was a skilled stone mason who built rock homes and his mother a homemaker.  The family eventually returned to their roots to reside in Resaca, GA back in Gordon County.  Bill graduated from Calhoun High School in 1962 and the University of Georgia in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy.  His degree included marrying his wife Jo Ann in June 1967.

Young BillBill’s professional career began with a stint in Toccoa, GA where he toiled for Pruitt’s Pharmacy as a rural pill pusher until March 1971.  While working at Pruitt’s in Toccoa, Bill met Jimmy Carter as he campaigned for governor of Georgia.  Later while working for Eckerd Drugs in Athens, Billy Carter came there.

After working in Winder, GA, Bill self-deported to work for Eckerd’s Drugs in Athens, GA in January 1972.  Bill became convinced that if he worked for a pharmacy, this insured that the pharmacy would be sold.  During his tenure as a pharmacist in the Athens area, he navigated through five buyout mergers with name changes and sometimes being relocated from one store to another but remaining in the Athens, GA area before retiring in 2010 from Rite Aid.

Bill and familyBill and Jo Ann have three children – son, Kenneth, daughter, Melissa and daughter, Heather.  Young Kenneth achieved family notoriety when he responded to a grade school exercise that his father’s work was to “sell drugs”.  This led to the principal’s office for a further explanation.  After Kenneth was older, he did something even worse, he became a politician.  He is on the city council for Winterville, GA.  Jo Ann suffered a heart attack in August 2010, and began attending cardiac rehab at St. Mary’s Hospital Wellness Center in Athens.  Bill decided to join her in the exercises and was introduced to a treadmill, his first foray into running.  

Daughter Melissa was into running at the time of her mother’s heart attack.  Bill at age sixty-eight began to run with Melissa.  He entered the Coach Mike 5K in 2012 and placed third in his age group.  His daughter encouraged Bill to participate in more races and he became a fixture in Black Bag and Clover Glove races with younger daughter Heather.  Bill and Heather ran the Butterfly Dreams 5K in 2013 and have continued running together.  Bill achieved over 1,000 points in the Run and See Grand Prix and over 400 points in the Black Bag Race Series in 2014.  In 2015 he is giving Herman Sasser and Jim Latimer stiff competition in the over age 70 geezer division.

Bill’s hobbies beyond obviously running include displaying his vintage 1978 Chevy truck in classic car venues with his son Kenneth.  Bill enjoys spending time with his children and grandchildren.  Bill and Jo Ann reside in Hull, Ga near Athens.  Hull is so small that if Bill ever contracts dementia, he cannot get lost!  His favorite races are any at the Sandy Creek Nature Center, and any race where he beats Herman Sasser and Jim Latimer!  Bill encourages race directors to conduct awards in the sequence of starting with the senior members of the running community before awarding winners in the younger age groups.

Look for the profile of Athens senior wonder Marge Finnerty and  on age group leading Herman Sasser. 

Dan Williams - Tireless County Hunter

Dan grew up in Cleveland, Ohio as an “overweight and uncoordinated” son of his clerical worker mother and shop foreman father.  In High School, Daniel excelled in science and band, playing the French horn in the Cleveland All City Band and Ohio Boys Band.  Daniel earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and met his wife to be Marty at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.  Both fled to the promise land of Athens, Georgia where Marty earned a Ph.D. in Freshwater Ecology and Daniel the same degree in Inorganic Chemistry.  Daniel taught in temporary positons at Baldwin Wallace College in Berea, Ohio and Georgetown University in our nation’s capital before landing a tenure position at what was Kennesaw Junior College in Marietta in 1977.  Staying the course, Dan rose through the ranks to full professor at Kennesaw and helped develop the largest chemistry program in the University System of Georgia.  Dan retired in 2008 but continued to teach part time until 2014.

Dan, now age sixty seven, started running in 1985 when Marty made the “subtle observation that he was obese and told him so”.  Two years of running resulted in being fifty pounds lighter.  Dan set goals of running an officially timed race in every county in Georgia, running a race in every state capital in the USA, the counties in Connecticut, and all the southern provinces of Canada.  Dan has also run in all three counties of Delaware, the state with the fewest number of counties.  In Georgia, Dan focused on “small festival runs, charity races, or lesser known events which allowed him to see a diverse slice of Americana”.  Georgia, being the largest state east of the Mississippi, also has the most counties-159 not counting two historic counties of Milton and Campbell.  The goal was only achieved by self-help in organizing some races where a county had none.  He and Marty most notably organized among others the Polar Bear 5K in 1988 that now is a continuing successful race sponsored by Johnson Ferry Baptist.  Later he and Marty organized and directed the Hiram 7K on the Silver Comet Trail on New Year’s Day in Paulding County which did not have a timed race heretofore.  Counties among others where Daniel had to organize races to achieve his goal were Treutlen, Twiggs, Montgomery, Steward, Webster, Marion, Clay, Calhoun, and Baker.  Daniel sought out multi county races of which there were a few like Al Toll Masters 15K (Bibb-Monroe) and the Boston Mini-marathon (Thomas-Brooks).  The first race of this trek was the Marietta Naval Air Station 5K in 1987 and the 159^th and final county race was a February 2015 Statenville, GA (Echols County) race.  Four other runners have joined Daniel and are emulating his quest calling themselves the “County Hunters”.  They are Clint Watkins of Madison, Jim Scarr of Powder Springs, Matt Crowder of Atlanta and Jim Baldwin of Macon.

Dan with two other county huntersHigh points include the “Run through Hell” in Michigan and running through Helen, GA as a prelude to the Hogpen Hill Climb.  The largest race he had participated in has been the Atlanta Peachtree 10K running with the “equivalent of a small town”.  The smallest was a four person race field in Carson City, Nevada in 22 degree temperature.  Dan has run a race in each of Maryland’s counties along the Mason-Dixon Line and six of the eight counties in the state of Connecticut.  Dan has run marathons and completed the total distances of notable trail runs-The New River Trail in Southern Virginia (58 miles), the Virginia Creeper Trail near Abington, Virginia (34 miles), and the entire distance of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Towpath in Maryland (186 miles).    

Holding his County Hunter ShirtDan’s “times have been slowed, but …enthusiasm hasn’t.  As long as God gives him strength, he will be out on the trail and roads wearing out multiple pairs of running shoes and in the words of the (legendary early 20^th century Scottish runner) Eric Liddell “feeling God’s pleasure ”. 

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the articles on Debbie Schulte and the profile of retired pill pusher and pharmacist Bill Tweedell.           

Melinda Black - Educated To Run

Melinda was born and raised in Toccoa, GA.  She graduated from Stephens County High School.  Melinda excelled playing the clarinet in the high school band and for three years was selected for the All State Band as well as attending the Governor’s Honor’s program.  She was selected as the student conductor for the marching band her senior year.  Melinda subsequently attended and graduated from the University of Georgia (UGA).  She earned a position in the Redcoat Band but became unable to participate because she had to work on weekends while at UGA.   Melinda majored in education and is currently an Early Intervention Program Teacher at Hazel Grove Elementary in Mt. Airy, GA.  

Melinda began running at age six.  Every day she would do her best to run away from school.  The custodian of the elementary school she attended, Mr. Sullens, was assigned the job of catching her.  He had long legs and could run fast for his age group.  One day she made it out the door, through the parking lot, and to the highway before Mr. Sullens caught her about fifty yards down the road. 

Melinda’s parents divorced when she was five years old.  Her father didn’t want to raise her and her mother could not do so.  She ended up being uniquely qualified for her vocation by being raised by grandparents as well as aunts and uncles.  Melinda has always felt that she had a hole in her heart because she didn’t have the love of her parents.  Sometimes she just runs through the pain because she wishes she had parents who loved her.  As the years go by the hole in her heart has grown smaller as it is being filled with the love of others in her life.

Melinda has been married to husband Mark for the best twenty-eight years of her life.  Mark is supportive of Melinda as her running coach and drives her to races.  When she is at the two mile point in a 5K, she knows she is headed back to Mark and that he is always waiting for her at the finish line.  They have two sons, Kelsey and Hayden.  Kelsey is twenty-five years old, a Georgia Tech graduate like his father, and a civil engineer.  His wife Emilee is a school teacher like Melinda.  Hayden is age twenty-two and will be attending Pharmacy School at UGA this fall.  As they say in Georgia the parents and children are a “house divided” with the inhabitants having both Tech and UGA pedigrees.

Melinda’s post elementary school running began in 1990 when she participated in a few 5K races.  Her best 5K time was 19:29 in the 1997 Lake Hartwell Dam race.  She stopped running for years due to health reasons, but continued to walk, jog, and hike regularly.  Two years ago the running lure bit again and has endured to this date.  Melinda discovered series running and the point system in February 2013.  She placed second in the Black Bag race series with 497 point.   Her 2014 goal was to achieve a finish time in under twenty-four minutes in a 5K race.  She achieved the goal on May 2nd with a 23:53 time at the Night of Neon 5K in Commerce.  Her favorite race is the D-Day Currahee 10K as one can tell by the lead photo of Melinda at the turn around atop Currahee Mountain.  The site is three miles from where she grew up.  It is also near the same road where she started her running career at age six!  Melinda especially enjoys trail runs and running in the woods.  Melinda humbly states that she has met “some very kind and amazing people” on the series circuits and is “looking forward to getting to know them even better”.

Bob, checking out from the back of the pack.  Look for the profile on mountain man Clarkesville’s Jerry Cunningham and on Athens’ Caitlin Cohn.