TRACK IS BETTER WHEN WE’RE TOGETHER: sweet couples in our club

Bill and Barbara Cason enjoyed competing at the Florida Senior Games in December 2022. (Photo courtesy of Doug Bartel)

It’s time for a Valentine’s Day look at couples who are both active in our club. They responded thoughtfully to the questions I posed (seen in bold type in the Casons’ story, below). Each pair has their own “take” on experiencing the ups and downs of track with their nearest & dearest.
--Edited by Leah Rewolinski ​ 

Bill and Barbara Cason: We reinforce each others’ daily workouts  
Tell us what you like about having a partner who’s also involved in track & field. For instance, mutual support, having a group of friends in common, being familiar with track events, encouraging each other to get up for track workouts at dawn. 
While all of your “for instances” apply, I think accountability is at the top of the list. We seem to hold each other accountable for the training that should be done. Not in a bad way, but by simply asking, how was your workout? It’s become unthinkable (except for illness or injury) that one of us would reply, “I didn’t feel like working out today.”
 
Did you both get involved in the sport at once, or did one of you follow the other? (Who encouraged who?) How has that evolved over time?
We’ve both been runners for over 30 years, training together and doing road races. Barbara was the first to get started in running, with the goal of losing weight after childbirth. She invited me along for her first 5K and we’ve been hooked ever since. 
 
Track for us is relatively new. We had competed in a couple of state senior games before moving to The Villages but didn’t think of ourselves as track athletes, just runners. Barbara was still transitioning to racewalking and upon our arrival here we competed right away in The Villages Senior Games. We enjoyed it so much that we both decided to join the track club.
 
Any good times (“I won a gold medal!”) or not-so-good times (“My piriformis is killing me!”) when you especially appreciated having a partner on the same wavelength.
One of our best times was the 2017 National Senior Games in Birmingham. It was our first competition of that magnitude, so we didn’t know what to expect. Our research showed that the top eight finishers in each event received awards. So, armed with that knowledge, we headed to Birmingham with our sights set on being in the top eight.
 
Barbara placed seventh and eighth in her two events and I placed eighth in both my events. Initially we were pretty pleased with ourselves because we got exactly what we wished for. But as we were driving back to The Villages the thought crossed our minds: What if we had set our sights on being in the top three? We got a big laugh out of that one, because we realized we had set our sights a bit too low.
 
 
Léone Hettenbergh and Ralph Hollis: Track is worth the early wake-up call  
If Ralph didn’t get me up, I wouldn’t get to the track. Arriving at the track is great; getting up – not so great. We both enjoy the camaraderie. It’s a great way to do something by yourself ... with others.
 
Now, getting up for the track is almost pleasurable. It’s progress of a sort, perhaps even an accomplishment? Ralph’s been involved for a while while I’m the dilettante, walking leisurely.  
 
After-track breakfast has become a ritual, a delightful and delicious time together. Ralph does the cooking and I do the eating. And, I enjoy bringing chocolates when I come back from Belgium.
 
 
Bea and Bob Donovan: These new club members are lovin’ it
We enjoy getting involved in track and field, particularly for the healthy early morning workouts. It is a great way to start the day together and make new mutual friends. Although Bea got us into race walking and track events, Bob is the early bird who gets us going.
 
Previously, when Bea competed in triathlons, Bob took up swimming so he could join her in practice swims as well as running and biking workouts. We both sort of faded from our cycling and running regimen after Covid broke up group activities, so we began walking regularly, but Bea got bored with the routine without competition. When she heard about the track and field group and decided to get involved, Bob followed. We are both hooked on it now and love it.
 
Bea is the competitor, while Bob likes the health benefits of participating with the group. Bea always looks for events we can travel to; Bob goes along, and we enjoy doing the same things. It was an unexpected thrill to win medals in our first Villages Senior Games. After qualifying for the Florida Senior Games, there was no doubt that Bea was headed for Tampa, so Bob did the registration and off we went. Beyond our wildest expectations, it was a special thrill when we both won gold medals. Racewalking is a wonderful workout.
 
 
Fred and Sharon Hirsh: decades of mutual support
Fred was first to join the track team. He liked it so much that Sharon decided to come as well. We have enjoyed meeting everyone and making new friends. On track practice days we encourage each other to get up early. We don’t mind the morning workouts, even in cold weather; it’s nice being done at 9 a.m. when most Villagers are just beginning their day.
 
Fred has been involved in running (now racewalking) for 41 years, while Sharon has just started. Over the years she hasn’t missed any of Fred’s races. She also came to almost all of Fred’s softball games, missing just two over a 21-year biweekly game career.
 
It was thrilling to be together when Fred set state walking records in Ohio, Michigan, and Florida. We have not been thrilled during the long recovery time for Fred’s groin pull last year.
 
Most of all we feel very fortunate to enjoy this wonderful activity with a great group of incredible people.
 
 
Tom Rewolinski: This coach “created a monster”  
What could be better than traveling to watch an Olympic or World Championships track meet, sitting in a stadium for hours on end for a whole week, and your spouse enjoying it as much as you do?
 
Leah watched me compete in college, and I encouraged her to start running. After college I got her to sign up for a one-mile race in an open track meet. She did really well, and I have a picture of her crossing the finish line in 6:12. It wasn’t long after that she was winning or placing high in road races and later masters track and field meets. I created a monster.
 
One of the good times was watching Leah get her award and hug from Al McGuire for placing 5th overall (30:24) in the Al McGuire 5-Mile Run For Children’s Hospital in downtown Milwaukee. More than ten thousand women ran the race.
 
 
Leah Rewolinski: Me and my soul mate
Ever since watching Tom run at our high school track meets, I’ve admired his natural speed and commitment to training. His team won our conference championship – the top level of high school competition at that time. At UW-Whitewater he became my mentor when I started “jogging,” which was a bit unusual back then.
 
We got into road racing in a big way during the running boom of the 1970s and ‘80s. I was thrilled to be sponsored by our local Eastbay running store, and Tom continued coaching me on training methods and race strategy.
 
Later we competed in USA Track & Field masters’ meets. Their national championships enticed us to visit areas we wouldn’t have gone otherwise, including Bozeman, Montana; Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and many other places.
 
We commiserate over various injuries and celebrate our victories and milestones. Our interest in running – and track & field in particular – is one of many ways in which we’re soul mates. 
 
 
Kathleen Riddle: Track has enriched our life  
It’s been great to be a part of Rick’s track life since he began in 2005. We’ve made lifelong friendships with people from all over the U.S. Now that we’re in The Villages, our track family has continued to grow. Like Ray Jancso says,”There’s nothing more important than family and friends!” Sharing our track experience has given us both so much more than just competition and medals. It’s enriched our life journey. 
 
As you know, I’m a late bloomer in the track world. I began by coming to the track and walking while Rick did his workout. About six months in, I asked Rick to “build” me a light training program. I did that program for about a year before joining the rest of the sprint group as their caboose. Through consistency and encouragement from Rick and my fellow track mates, my track experience has become invaluable to my “training to be 90” goal. I appreciate and thank you all!
 
It’s always nice to have a partner who encourages you when they see improvements that may not be evident to you. And one who also “gets” your fatigue and assures you that fatigue and recovery are tools of progress. But the best part is getting hugs, kisses, and handholding from your love during a workout. 
 
 
Rick Riddle: It’s been a delight
How to explain my feeling about sharing track with Kathleen? I have had and continue to have joy watching Kathleen blossom in the track workouts. She has undertaken a journey that has stretched from observer/cheerleader/team videographer to a full participant in track workouts. I love the smile on her face on track mornings. The smile grew over time, replacing a look of apprehension. Without a background of athletics, the apprehension was normal. But all of you embraced her and welcomed her.
 
Lately she has told me that you notice her improvements. She tells me this with a happy light in her eyes. She has arrived! It has been a delight to watch. It’s great timing and a significant moment to write about that joy as Valentine’s Day approaches!
 
That brief explanation is effective at the micro level of describing Kathleen + Rick + Track Club.
 
I also see a macro level of marriage qualities at work throughout our club. Not everyone has a spouse who comes to the track. That would be a statistical anomaly, wouldn’t it? Given that truth, I will expand my response to illustrate that our experience at the track operates with a set of principles common to a successful and tranquil marriage. I believe our team is playing “track & field” in a larger social hierarchy that mimics the values within marriage. Our club is a social structure constructed around unity and responsibility. Both can be difficult. Unity is not a given. It requires cultivation. The same can also be said about responsibility.
 
Any valentine story worth telling must own both qualities, unity and responsibility, to survive and prosper. The story of Kathleen and Rick’s unity has lasted for 54 years. I’m glad Kathleen has taken care of the responsibility part for both of us. <smile> That’s a lot of Valentine’s Days.
 
The stories of a successful track club and a successful social club require a similar proportion of unity and responsibility.
 
Kathleen and I have watched the club grow and prosper with your individual volunteering. We have moved forward with your adherence to suffocating covid rules, gate rules and other minor annoyances. You pick up trash. Sometimes you pick up bruised and bloodied comrades off the track. You give get well cards to the fallen. You tend to websites and email systems and raise funds for AEDs. You conduct warm-up drills and warm-up laps. You lead sprint groups through the workouts. You cooperate with an often-absent-minded sprint coach. You strive with full energy to meet the responsibility of being the best athlete you can be. Best of all, you continue caring for one another through it all.
 
You are unified and responsible. Just like the woman I love.
 
Happy Valentine’s Day to all of you.