Heather Sloan - Her Engine is Still Running!

Heather was born in Toccoa, Georgia.  The family later moved to Winder, and settled in Athens.  Heather was the youngest of three children of her father pharmacist and runner Bill Tweedell (profiled in October 2015) and mother Joan, who was a stay at home mom until Heather attended middle school. Heather’s birth sealed the family decision to trade their 1964 Pontiac GTO for a station wagon that would accommodate the growing clan.  Heather, to this day, regrets that the GTO was sold!

Young HeatherHeather graduated from Clarke Central High School in 1988 and enrolled at the University of Georgia (UGA).  Beyond a couple of Anthropology classes, college did not hold her interest.  Heather left UGA after two and a half years entering the work force.

Heather met her husband David in 1996.  David was a runner (in good weather) and participated in occasional races such as the Marigold 10K.  After watching him and wondering what it would be like to try running, Heather ran after David until they married in 2002.  The newly marrieds moved to David’s home community of Winterville.  David was an instant hit with Heather’s family as he, like her father and brother, liked to work on older cars.  Among those restored by David was a 1960 Chevrolet Impala that he gave Heather as a birthday gift.  Heather and David have still spent many weekends with Heather’s father, her brothers, her son, and grandson at area car shows.

Heather with her Classic CarsDavid has slowed down due to an injured Achilles Tendon and Heather’s health has deteriorated.  She was diagnosed with Psoriatic and Rheumatoid Arthritis in 2000.  Heather experienced inflammation in her chest and lungs, plus had joint and bone damage in almost every joint in her body.  Her physician recommended cardio exercise to strengthen her lungs.  Heather’s sister had started running, influencing her father Bill to do so.  Heather wanted to join them starting the Couch to 5K program in July 2013 leading to her participation in her first 5K, the Butterfly Dreams in late August.  She ran New Years at Noon in 2014 and noticed other runners picking up their year-end awards.  A motivated Heather and her father ran seventy-two race in 2014.  They even began to do two races a day only to find that other runners were occasionally doing three to four races in a day.  Heather placed first in the female age 45-49 age group in 2014 in the Run and See Georgia Grand Prix.  She completed her first half-marathon, the River Vista at Dillard, with her sister Melissa.  Heather in 2015 completed one hundred races earning first place in her age group in the Black Bag Race Series and Clover Glove Race Series, and second place in the Run and See Georgia Grand Prix.  Heather also completed the Smoky Mountain Half Marathon accompanied by her mother who drove her to the race.  

Heather with dad and sisAdditional complication of Ankylosing Spondylitis (rheumatic disease of the spine) have modified Heather’s race participation to run walk mode.  Her lower spine is curving at a 90-degree angle with her lower vertebrae out of alignment affecting the nerves in her legs and feet.  Despite shooting pains and numbness when running, her physician encourages her to “keep moving” as long as she is able to do so.   Her favorite race is any race with her father.  Heather observes that she “knew running would be good for her heath but never dreamed of the great friendships” she would make with so many “inspiring people”.       

 Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Look for the profile on senior runner Tom Linski and on Jill Floyd.

Mark Townsend - A Dawg the First and Second Time

Mark Townsend’s father used to joke that Mark was “born in a van down by the river” in Marietta, GA. Mark was the youngest of three sons born to a career Air Force father.  The family, in typical military assignment rotations, moved to new assignments in Beaver Creek, Ohio, Washington DC and Warner Robbins, GA prior to retiring in Watkinsville, GA.  Mark graduated from Oconee High School and continued his education with a degree from Athens Tech in Radiography, and enrolled at the University of Georgia (UGA).    

Mark prior to his weight loseMark began his vocational career working for an independent grocer in Athens, and with higher aspirations moved to Chicago, IL in 1991 where he found employment with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.  Mark worked on the exchange assisting brokers in floor trading for the next fifteen years.

Mark returned to his Watkinsville roots in 2006 to begin what he termed as his “second educational run”.  He attended Athens Tech and eventually again UGA.  Mark graduated from UGA in 2014 with a degree in Financial Planning and since has worked as a financial planner and day trader in the Watkinsville-Athens area.  His legacy upon graduation was cemented as the third generation (grandfather, father, and a brother) in his family to graduate from UGA.  Mark stated his UGA matriculation “started with Herschel Walker and took thirty-four years to graduate”.  Mark is a big UGA fan and a proud member of the “Dawg House Crew”, having attended home football games for forty-three years.  Mark came close to being a UGA undergraduate student when the football team could have achieved two national titles.  He was on campus in 1980 and when the dawgs were one incomplete pass short of defeating the University of Alabama in 2012 that would have given the football team two national titles during his undergraduate tenure.  Mark and Bob Slowpants both believe this record would have stood for some time.  But hopefully Kirby Smart can get that job done.  Mark’s thirty-four year to graduate tenure is currently threatened by legendary UGA kicker Kevin Butler, who has returned in 2016 to complete his undergraduate degree.        

Mark started to run in March of 2010 to complete his weight reduction goal and to lower his blood pressure.  Mark termed himself as “the fat guy that got off the couch and started to run just like Forest Gump but didn’t make it across country but was happy to just make it to end of the street”.  Running contributed to Mark shedding forty pounds.  He recalls running his first 10K race wearing too many shirts.  Not being experienced to know that runners shed clothes on the race course to be retrieved later, he recalls “ended up tying a shirt around my waist to finish the race so much for trying not to look like a first timer”.  Mark ran a couple of races after that and discovered the Black Bag Race series in 2011, participating in many series races since then.  Currently Mark is in first place in the 50-54 age group in the Black Bag and Run and See Georgia Race series, and second place in the Clover Glove Race series.  

As opposed to identifying a favorite race, he would “like to give a thank you to the organizations, race directors, volunteers, and law enforcement that make every race safe, fun, and, successful”.  On second thought, his favorite race is one that serves post-race pizza!        

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profile of Heather Sloan, and profile of Milledgeville’s Tom Linski.

Mary Lou Kau - Abused Passport

Mary Lou Kau was born in Minnesota but has always considered herself a Montanan.  She grew up in Bozeman, Montana where her family moved when she was six years old.  Mary Lou was brought up in a university environment as her father was a poultry researcher at Montana State University.  Mary Lou describes herself as “never an athlete” in her formative years, as in high school the only organized female athletic team was skiing.  She was not a good skier!  Mary Lou attended Montana State, earning a Bachelor’s of Science (BS) Degree in Microbiology.  The only organized female sports team at Montana State was swimming.  Again Mary Lou was not a good swimmer!

Unsure of the direction for her life to take after graduation, Mary Lou joined the Peace Corp.  She was sent to Honduras where she was stationed from 1964-1966 in a small rural town working in what the Peace Corp termed as Community Development establishing a local credit union.  Mary Lou and a co-worker lived in primitive conditions in a one room house.  The water source was a faucet outside the house, as was a latrine.  The home had one electric light bulb but frequently there was no electric power.  Cooking was done on a kerosene stove.  The water had to be filtered to drink and boiled to use in cooking.  Mary Lou describes her Peace Corp tenure as “challenging but sometimes frustrating “.   Unlike those of us who went to Vietnam in more primitive conditions, Mary Lou positively “remembers Honduras as a beautiful country with happy, friendly people”.  She finds this hard to reconcile with today’s “gang controlled Honduras with its high murder rate and citizens desperate to leave”.  Her experience pales that of present day church sponsored missions where congregation members visit Honduras for two weeks with significantly more amenities.    

Upon return to state side, Mary Lou moved to Seattle, Washington where she was employed as a social worker in child welfare services.  She met and married her husband Jim in 1969, who was a graduate student earning a PhD in Economics at the University of Washington.  Upon Jim’s graduation, they relocated to not so primitive Hawaii for two years.  While in the tropics Mary Lou earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Hawaii.  Jim accepted a position with the University of Georgia (UGA) in 1973, requiring that they move to Athens, Georgia.  Mary Lou was employed as a social worker at Saint Mary’s Hospital and later at Athens Dialysis Center.  After the birth of two sons and what Mary Lou describes as a “mid-life crisis”, she enrolled in the College of Pharmacy at UGA earning a BS degree in Pharmacy in 1991.  After a one-year stint at a local independent pharmacy, Mary Lou worked for Athens Regional Medical Pharmacy concentrating in IV and chemotherapy drugs until her retirement in 2007.     

Mary Lou began running for exercise at age 56.  Her first race was the Race/Walk for Home in Athens where she placed 598^th overall but more importantly second in her age group.  After the “motivation” of receiving an award, Mary Lou has run mostly 5K and 10K races finishing in the top three in the female age 70-74 age group.  She ran her first Peachtree Road Race in 2000 and has a goal of completing three more so she will have twenty Peachtree t-shirts for a quilt.  Her favorite race is the Frog Hop.  Mary Lou acknowledges that racing “has allowed her to meet some amazing people” and that she runs to keep fit as well as for the fun of it.  After reading this profile, the rest of us regulars will realize how amazing Mary Lou is!        

Travel is Mary Lou’s “passion”.   She and Jim have been to Europe several times, also South America, Australia, New Zealand, and forty-nine of the fifty states.  Among their more adventuresome travels are Machu Picchu, the upper Amazon, the Galapagos, China, Tibet, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Kenya, Tanzania, India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Morocco, Antarctica, and arctic Svalbard.  She and Jim are planning on revisiting Antarctica in January 2017.  Mary Lou exercises at the YMCA in Athens five times a week, and enjoys trips to Houston, Texas, to visit her five-year old grandson.  

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profile on speedy Mark Townsend, and profile of Heather Sloan.     

George Morse - Cooling Down

George was a pre-World War II baby born in 1939.  George’s father worked in sales, whose vocation required that the family relocate when he was transferred to a new assignment.  By the time George was age 14, the family had resided in seven states.  Unable to establish homestead exemption and causing George anguish over continually having to establish new friendships, the family settled in Atlanta.  George graduated from North Fulton High School, now Atlanta International School.  After graduation in the era of no free rides with college loans, George worked part time and attended Southern Technical Institute (STI) at the old Naval Air Station in Chamblee, GA.  He graduated in 1961 from STI the first year that the campus had relocated to Marietta.  George has a phobia for selecting schools to attend that change their names.  STI was no exception later becoming Southern Polytechnic State University, and most recently Kennesaw State.    

George like many in the age 70-74 to 75-79 age group were faced with the draft and the Vietnam War after their educational deferment ended.   George did not wait for events to overcome his future and volunteered for the Air Force in 1962, incurring a four-year service obligation.  His service tenue as expected with his engineering background began with a year of technical school courses.  His permanent station assignment was Whitman Air Force Base (AFB) somewhere in Missouri.  George was part of a team that serviced Minuteman missile silos and launch control centers in the continental United States.  George continued reserve service in the Georgia Air National Guard, as per attached photos of pre-ISIS, George deployed to Turkey before Turkey was cool!    

After discharge, George retuned to Atlanta in 1966 and secured an engineering position with AT&T.  At age thirty, George married with the union producing two offspring.  Son Alan joined the Navy after High School.  Daughter Shelly graduated from Shorter College in Rome, GA with a B.A in Education.  Shelly and her husband Patrick have given George three grandchildren.  Like many of us, including Bob Slowpants, George’s marriage did not last.  George started walking to internalize the stress of his unhappy marriage.  He met others walking and jogging and someone he encountered suggested that he attempt a 5K race.  George, following their advice, eventually had his first racing encounter at the now defunct Runway 5K at the Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta.  George was hooked as he developed many friends who looked forward to Saturday races.

 George, like many of the senior members of the running community, was a runner, in mid-life a jogger, and now a participant.  George had run the Peachtree Road Race many times but retired his 10K shoes in 2012.  His favorite race is the Marble Festival in Jasper, GA.   George likes this race because you can sit down for the awards, and that the awards are “hefty” marble slabs.  His second favorite is the Cave Spring 5k when he encounters friends Ed and Karen Larsen of Carrollton.   

George like many of the senior runners misses Howard Peck, who had a tradition of a post-race cool down with an adult beverage after a race that he supplied from a cooler in his vehicle trunk.  George is not the only senior runner who misses Howard!  

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profile on Athens runner Mary Lou Kau, and the profile on speedy Mark Townsend.     

Geri Barrios - It is never to late to lace up

Geri was born Blairsville, one of four children.  The family moved to Young Harris after Geri completed the first grade.  She attended Towns County Schools until the eleventh grade.  The family must have resided close to the county line as Geri attended Towns County High until her senior year when she transferred to Union County High School graduating with the kids she started with in the first grade. 

Hartwell Dam RunGeri is a survivor.  She moved to Atlanta when she was seventeen.  Her graduation gifts were a suitcase from her grandfather and a Bible from her parents.  Her father loaned her $25 which she repaid when she found a job.  Her first husband was also from “the mountains”.  Geri had met him before her move to Atlanta, as his sister was her best friend her senior year in High School.  They parted after twelve years and two children.  Thanks to her daughter and son, Geri now has for grandchildren.  Geri met her second husband in Atlanta in the doctor’s office where she was working.  He was a CPA and after marriage Geri worked in his office for twenty-eight years until his death in 2002 from Alzhimer’s.  Geri’s administrative position was “stressful” enough being coupled with taking care of somone who doesn’t know who you are takes a toll.   

Geri should have been a poster child for Match.com as she met her next two husbands from that site.  Geri’s daughter, on her own, listed Geri on Match.com after her husband’s death had settled in.  She connected with Dr. David Whitaker, who had retired from his practice in Florida and moved to Toccoa in 1998 where he had build his retirement home.  David practiced part time at the Toccoa Clinic and had started hiking with the Old Farts Hiking Club which was entirely men.  Geri moved from Alpharetta to Toccoa in 2004 and married David.  Geri started hiking with the group leading to the politically correct name change to “Old Friends” Hiking Club (OFHC).  The OFHC is now about 50% female.  Tony Presley was the leader of the group, an avid runner, and holder of many Georgia records.   His wife Donna is also a runner and has become Gerri’s best friend.  When Geri told Donna she could run her driveway three times, she was ready for a 5K.  They both particiapted in the 2006 Hartwell Dam 5K when Geri was age 62.  Both have been running races together ever since. 

Unfortunately David was killed tragically in a tractor accident in 2012.  Geri was angry at God when David died, as her life before David had been “difficult”.  The running community in Northeast Georgia was a comfort to Geri after David’s death as running became her therapy.   Geri recalls going to an Elk’s Club dinner before a choir practice.  She was directed to sit at the widow’s table where all the women “looked like they were waiting to die”.  Geri was not willing to die and begin to realize that she was “being watched over” by God as her faith returned.  Geri attended the 2013 Memorial Day parade in Dacula.  After observing the motorcyles in the parade, she remarked to friends that she wanted a motorcycle.  They dismissed the idea and advised that she just meet an old biker who will let her ride on the back.  Divine intervention occurred as Gerri got back on Match.com, met, and married Wayne Barrios in 2014.  Wayne broadened her athletic endeavors to include biking and motorcycle riding.  Geri has Zip lined, riden in a helicopter, and gone tubing among other activities.  They rode on Wayne’s motorcycle to Mardi Gras and attended bike week in Daytona.  Her latest venture is tandem bike riding. Wayne just completed the Bike Ride Across Georgia or BRAG.  Geri accompained him towing their pop up tent camper.   

Geri in her BBRS singletGeri is a very competative runner and usually places in the female age group 70-74 when she and Donna participate in Run and See Georgia as well as Black Bag Race Series area races.  Her favorite race is the Hartwell Dam 5k as this race was the start of her running career.  Other favorites are the Rabun Ramble, Currahee Challenge, and Soque River Ramble.  

Geri, a member of the St. Matthias Episcopal Church in Toccoa since 2004,  advises senior runners to never give up as “God is not through with you yet”!         

Bob checking out from the back of the pack.  Watch for the profile on George Morse and the profile on  Mary Lou Kau