Gary and I were running buddies. Many days after school we would take off in cross country training, up the hill in front of school towards the water tower and on the run on the BW parkway, where we were, of course, forbidden to go. It was a great grass path. We would run a good while then cut back through streets, looking goofy in our shorts, come back to school and do some laps on the track. All those days we talked about everything, about pushing ourselves, about ideas, about life's complexities. Gary was better at pushing himself than I. He was stronger, faster, steadier. But it was always a team and duo experience. I never felt left behind, always supported. He would say: "Don't worry about the pain, you will never remember it."
In those days, NOBODY ran around the streets except a few of us cross country types. I always wanted to be challenged by hills and we worked at it a lot, towards the exhilaration of reaching the crest and still having stamina. I do remember meeting my match in hills at the State Cross Country meet in Frostburg, piedmont team meets the mountains. Gary was always stong and confident.
Gary was our top half-miler and did well with that necessary combination of speed and distance strength. While our track team never did well, I grew and gained a lot from this companionship.
I learned of his death in a fire some years later. It was terribly sad for me. I never saw him again after high school. He would have succeeded well in something difficult. Gary had all it would take.
Donald E. Hughes
Gary and I were running buddies. Many days after school we would take off in cross country training, up the hill in front of school towards the water tower and on the run on the BW parkway, where we were, of course, forbidden to go. It was a great grass path. We would run a good while then cut back through streets, looking goofy in our shorts, come back to school and do some laps on the track. All those days we talked about everything, about pushing ourselves, about ideas, about life's complexities. Gary was better at pushing himself than I. He was stronger, faster, steadier. But it was always a team and duo experience. I never felt left behind, always supported. He would say: "Don't worry about the pain, you will never remember it."
In those days, NOBODY ran around the streets except a few of us cross country types. I always wanted to be challenged by hills and we worked at it a lot, towards the exhilaration of reaching the crest and still having stamina. I do remember meeting my match in hills at the State Cross Country meet in Frostburg, piedmont team meets the mountains. Gary was always stong and confident.
Gary was our top half-miler and did well with that necessary combination of speed and distance strength. While our track team never did well, I grew and gained a lot from this companionship.
I learned of his death in a fire some years later. It was terribly sad for me. I never saw him again after high school. He would have succeeded well in something difficult. Gary had all it would take.
MIssed.