That's Tim Backenstose in the lead of the 1979 Penn Relays Marathon. It shows him on Kelly Drive nearing what we used to call a narrowing of the sidewalk near the boat houses, "the stenosis" when I ran there every day in Podiatry School.
I was somewhere behind him in the pack, laboring with my left full-foot blister caused by my new Nike racing shoes. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. Tim was "in the zone" that day. Coach Groves' policy of training Division I capable walk-ons as if we were all scholarship athletes paid dividends that day. It is a shame that Title IX has been reinterpreted since to make teams shun people like Tim and I. It has even morphed recently to the extent that it is now residing only in the political world. A way to punish one innocent group in favor of another, for political benefit.
My inclusion on the team, and others that became my best friends in the world, is the main reason I honor Coach Groves every day and continue to do my best, via this humble blog, to make PSUTF/XC Alumni the most active and largest group of its kind in the world. I hope you find these efforts worthy, enjoyable (and perplexing at times!). Help spread the word, and send me anything to include in our efforts.
Here's the surprise and precious gift Tim presented to me at the latest Reunion and Golf Tourney. It shows me and a few others chasing him in the final lap of that race. It is the only pic I have of me running for PSU.
