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.           

Braden Miller - Hot Dog of a Marine

Braden was born in Portsmouth, Virginia in 1973 where his father was a full time minister of the gospel for a non-denominational Christian church.  The family relocated to Elberton, GA when Braden was age three.  Braden spent his childhood and early years in Elberton and learned to love Georgia.  The family moved again to Eden, North Carolina when his father accepted another calling from a church.  The family remained in Eden where Braden completed high school at John Motley Morehead High School.

Young Braden and future wife HeatherAfter graduation Braden’s father decided to leave the ministry and open a restaurant in Albany, Georgia with Braden’s grandfather.  Braden waited three years to join his father in Albany and also enlisted in the U.S Marine Corp (USMC) at that time.  He worked in the family restaurant business while serving in the Marine Corp reserves for six years.  Braden married his childhood sweetheart, Heather in 1997, and they opened their own BBQ restaurant in Albany.  Unfortunately, like most of us, Braden was not ready for prime time and the BBQ restaurant “failed miserably”.  The failed restaurant did teach Braden and Heather some valuable lessons.  After two years and two children, the restaurant closed.  The experience resulted in Braden opening two Hot Dog King Restaurants in the Albany area that he has successfully run for thirteen years and counting.   Along with his parents, the family now operates three Hot Dog King and Kregg’s BBQ restaurants in Albany.

The Miller FamilyLike all agile, mobile, hostile military service types, Braden had to run in the service and continued to do so when it was no longer a job necessity.  Braden reemerged as a runner in December 2010 when he and his oldest daughter, Ramsay, participated in the Albany Jingle Jog 5K.  After several more races, they were introduced to the Run and See Georgia series by the South Georgia running ambassador Brenda Gail Wall.  Daughter Ramsay and dad have run in hundreds of races in all three series over the last few years.  They both earned Clover Glove jackets in 2014 and Ramsay took her age group in the Black Bag Race Series while Braden finished 3^rd in his competitive age group.  Running in all those 5K races have led to running in 10K races which has led to half marathons and now full marathons, culminating in the upcoming New York City Marathon in November 2015.

Braden and Ramsay in ChicagoBraden credits running with providing quality time spent with his supportive and active running family, wife Heather, children Ramsay age 15, Mattie age 13, and Jax age 10.  Braden has extended his expertise into teaching several running classes at Albany Christian Church and joining the cross country coaching staff at Lee County High School as a community coach.  Braden has learned that “inspiring others to run is so much more important that setting personal records”.  He is so thankful for the way other runners have encouraged, supported, and welcomed him and his family into such a great group of inspiring runners.

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profile on the running Reed family (Allyson, Hannah, and Lauren) and on Kennesaw State Owl Daniel Williams.

Donnie Chaffin - A Real Running Hero

Donnie was born and raised in a rural area near Hampton, Georgia and was the oldest of three children. His mother was a bookkeeper while his father kept the peace in the family and as a metro area Atlanta Police Officer for twenty years.  Donnie’s father transitioned to the local community from the city and served as Donnie as a young 4-H'ersheriff of Henry County for twenty-six years until he finally retired from a distinguished career in law enforcement.   Donnie recalls fondly his early years as “almost everyone living near was related somehow” so it was hard to get away with anything.  When he got in trouble, he was subjected to a most cruel punishment, he had to go inside.  Time was spent outdoors playing sports of all types, riding go-karts, and motorcycles, or just exploring the woods.   

Donnie played Little League baseball, which was his only organized sport participation until his days at Henry County High School where he was on the tennis team.   Donnie graduated from high school in 1978 and was accepted at the University of Georgia (UGA).  Upon graduation from UGA with a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry, he found it difficult to find a job.  He relates that he “pestered the personnel at Delta Airlines” until they found a position for him-he was placed in a computer programming class.  This must have been his calling as Donnie has been a computer programmer for Delta for thirty-two years. 

Donnie started dating his future wife Cheryl when they were both working a summer job at Wendy’s.  This also was the right move for Donnie as well as he and Cheryl have been married for thirty-five years. Cheryl is a middle school math teacher.   They have three children. Jennifer, age twenty-nine, was born with a brain tumor.  Jennifer has had over fifty surgeries and is disabled from multiple strokes.  Being able to work from home, Donnie has been able to care for her and continue his career with Delta.  This is a remarkable tribute to Donnie’s compassion and love for his family.  His oldest son James also works for Delta as a computer programmer.  The youngest son Mark is a frequent participant with Donnie at races.  Donnie has earned the distinction in 2014 of completing all ninety-four Clover Glover series races.  Mark recently graduated from UGA and is seeking full time employment.

Donnie began to run when he took aerobics classes in college but did not run competitively until the late 1980’s.  Donnie became hooked on Run and See Georgia a few years ago when he was one of the first “crazies” who would work it out so he could do two races in one Saturday morning.  In 1994 he ran fifty-four races and finish second overall.  His PRs in those days was 18:31 for a 5K and 40:52 for a 10K.  He has consistently run in the Run and See Georgia, Black Bag Race Series, and Clove Glove series since then but cut back temporarily to pursue another active hobby-martial arts.  Over the years Donnie has progressed up to the Fifth Degree Black Belt designation and recently “retired” as a karate instructor.  He also enjoys gardening, hiking, white water rafting, and scuba diving.  Mark began to run with his father in 2013 and became “hooked” as well.   They have raced every weekend since, with Donnie finishing second overall in the Black Bag Race Series and third overall in Clover Glove series in 2014 competing in 151 races combined. 

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Look for the profile of the Reed family of runners (Allyson, Hannah, and Lauren), and Braden Miller.

Dan Shoaf - Higher Frequency and Lost in the 60's

Dan Shoaf was born in Sewickley, PA, seventeen miles from Pittsburg, PA.  His father worked for the Alabama based firm, Vulcan Materials, recycling steel and tin plate from nearby industrial sites.  Dan’s mother was a telephone operator but found herself too busy to take calls after Dan was born so she became a career“domestic godess”.  Vulcan transferred his father to their Gary, Indiana facility in 1955.  Dan thought that Gary was the coldest place on earth as he recalls a seventeen degree below zero temperature when walking to school.  Vulcan transferred his father again in 1961 to their Houston, Texas facility half way through Dan’s High School tenure.  This was tramatic as shy (not any more!)Dan had to make new friends.  This was difficult as he did not participate in any outside of school activities other than watching television western series.  The favorites he recalls were Cheyenne with Clint Walker and Gunsmoke with Jim Arness.

After graduating from Spring Branch High School in the Houston area, Dan attended and graduated from Sam Houston State University with a BS degree in Geography and a minor in Business Administration. Transportation challenged ( no car) Dan’s first forray into running was slow jogging three miles with a friend to his part time job at radio station KSAM in Huntsville, Texas.  KSAM was the beginning of a life long beautiful friendship between Dan and the radio media.  Dan had a three hour shift spinning top forty Rock and Roll tunes for the AM station and changing the prerecorded tape for the sister FM staion.

Dan graduated from college in the Vietnam era and was drafted into the U.S. Army undergoing Basic Training at Fort Bliss near El Paso, Texas.  After Advanced Individual Training, Dan became an Army Public Affairs Broadcast Specialist at Fort Gordon, near Augusta, Georgia.  Dan spent the balance of his two year military stint recording taped military news to be utuilized by public radio stations.  He appreciated and enjoyed being involved in the radio media but did not receive combat pay.  Dan moonlighted at nearby WAUG in Augusta on a part time basis, again with a top forty format for his progam.  Still without a car, Dan recalls the long wait to catch a bus ride to the radio station in Augusta from Fort Gordon and back.  Dan found his last name hard to pronounce on the radio.  He was accused of spitting into the mike when attempting to say “Dan Shoaf” and alternatively listeners thought he was saying “Dan Show”.  This was corrected by adopting the name of an uncle and to this day he is know professionally as Dan Scott.  Dan quips he used the professional name to “keep the women off his back, but now has the opposite problem”.

Post military, Dan purchased his first vehicle-a 1968 Dodge, which he used to visit his grandparents in Pennsylvania and his parents who had again relocated to Long Beach, California.  Unemployed Dan moved in with his parents subsisting on a $54 a week unemployment check and began his hobby of collecting phonograph records.  Dan, when not seeking employment, would frequent record shops purchasing music albums that apealed to him in the $.50-.75  cent cost range.   A professional break came when an Army buddy from upstate South Carolina called him in 1971 to advise of an opening at a radio  station in Anderson, South Carolina.  Dan drove to the station and sucessfully interviewed for the position.  Dan became the music director for WANS and stayed five years.  Dan recalls this was the beginning of the hard rock era.  In 1977 he moved to WCCT in nearby Clemson, South Carolina after a change in ownership at WANS.  The owner of the Clemson station offered Dan a position with a new start up station in Anderson (WRIX) in 1977 where he has remained to this day. Dan has held the positons of Music Director, Program Director, and Operations Manager while WRIX transformed its’ format from rock to country over the years.  Dan, at age seventy, airs a three hour Sunday morning religious music format program.  Dan advises that this weeky stint keeps him in the radio media with a goal of achieving fifty years in broadcast radio (currently at forty-eight and a half and counting).

Dan’s favorite music genre is popular music from the 1950s through the 1970s. He also likes beach music that originated in South Carolina, as Shaggers can appreciate.   Dan has a collection of over five thousand albums and ten thousand forty-five RPM records.  Some were damaged by a flood in part of his home last year.  Many in his collection are considered “hard to find” now and represent the best of top 1950s Rock and R&B music.  Dan does not have any records in his collection from year 1980 to the present.   Dan also has a collection of old model railroad pieces that contains three dozen locomotives and fifty plus rail cars of all gauges.

Dan started running in the Anderson area in 1982 and could be seen with fellow runner Betty Burrell at Run and See Georgia Grand Prix and Black Bag races over the years.   He considers himself a middle of the pack runner although his 5K PR is 20:30 achieved at the Ellijay Apple Festival, which he recalls was only good enough for a third place finish in his age group.  His favorite race is the Winder’s Summer End 5000 race.  Dan’s  best 10K PR was 44:39 and marathon time of 3 hr 30 minutes in a practice run. Dan has completed six marathons including the Columbia South Carolina Marathon that he recalls was “too cheap to give a finisher medal”.  Dan was a long time member of the now defunt Anderson Road Runners race club.

As Dan enters the 70-74 year old competative men’s category in 2015, he finds himself slowed by statin laced blood pressure medication and Morton’s Neuroma disease in his left foot.  Dan previously was consistently particiapting in fifty to sixty Grand Prix and Black Bag races a year but has cut back to twenty due to health reasons with the eternnal graditude of those of us in the same age group.  Dan’s recommendation to is to disuade race directors from having ten year age groups and for race coordinators to always do the awards starting with the senior members of the running community first. He lauds Black Bag race coordinators for following this practice as he is often on a timeline to return to South Carolina for broadcast responsibilities.

Bob checking out from the back of the pack. Watch for the profile on Sheri Price and anticipate the profile on high point achiever Donnie Chaffin.