Boston Billy is coming to Fort Wayne. Yes, one of America's greatest distance-running icons, Bill Rodgers, will be a guest of the Fort Wayne Track Club on Jan. 31, 2010.
“I love traveling around the country and meeting runners,” Rodgers said by phone Monday. “Nothing excites me more than (seeing) what is on the horizon in American distance running.”
Rodgers burst onto the national running scene by winning the Boston Marathon in 1975. A recent graduate of nearby Wesleyan University, Rodgers then won the 1976 New York City Marathon. It would be the first of four straight New York City Marathon victories for Rodgers. He would also win three consecutive Boston Marathons (1978-80).
While contemporary Frank Shorter is often credited with starting the running boom with his gold medal run in the 1972 Munich Olympics, Rodgers was at the front later in the decade when weekend warriors tried their first marathons.
Rodgers was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic Team, participating in the marathon in Montreal and finishing 40th. His best chance at an Olympic medal would have been 1980, but the U.S. boycotted the games.
Rodgers twice broke the U.S. record in the marathon at Boston, performances which earned him the nickname “Boston Billy.”
His personal best (2:09:27) was in 1979.
Rodgers isn't the only one fired up about his trip to Fort Wayne. So is the Fort Wayne Track Club, which will be hosting Rodgers at its annual awards banquet.
“I am excited to have a well-known and accomplished runner speaking at our banquet. I am hopeful he will be available for autographs while in attendance,” club president Bill Harris said.
Harris added that track club members will have priority on tickets as well as a discount against the purchase price.
FWTC board member Mac McAvoy was responsible for enticing Rodgers with a trip to the Summit City. McAvoy, race director of Runners on Parade, said he had submitted a list of seven marathon icons, including Shorter, to fellow board members. McAvoy said Rodgers was overwhelmingly their choice.
Rodgers, now in his early 60s and recovering from prostate cancer, still has a zest for life.
“I travel about 30-35 weekends a year to run in races around the country,” Rodgers said. “I usually run the race, but always spend time with the local runners.”
Rodgers, of Boston, Mass., is a member of the National Distance Running Hall of Fame in Utica, N.Y., and the U.S. Track and Field Hall of Fame located in Indianapolis. He was the world's top-ranked marathoner in 1975, 1977 and 1979.
