Grapevine-Area Man Runs To Keep His Spirit In Shape -- Lake Grapevine Runners And Walkers

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Date Posted: 12:42:04 09/07/03 Sun
Author: The Dallas Morning News
Subject: Grapevine-Area Man Runs To Keep His Spirit In Shape
In reply to: Marty 's message, "Club Member To be Highlighted in Telegram on Sunday" on 19:34:07 09/04/03 Thu

Grapevine-area man runs to keep his spirit in shape

06:48 PM CDT on Saturday, September 6, 2003

By MELINDA WEAVER / Special Contributor to The Dallas Morning News

The Protectors of Freedom race holds special significance for Thomas Goodwin.

Goodwin joined the Lake Grapevine Runners and Walkers Club shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, because, he said, he was having trouble dealing with the changes in the country.

Goodwin has long enjoyed meditating and using his body for spiritual means. He wanted to run in the race that honors a firefighter who died in the World Trade Center and raises money for local firefighters.

"Running is a good character spiritual training because it's so uncomfortable for the body and mind," Goodwin said. "When you're running, you wonder how you're ever going to make it. A half-mile can seem like forever. To be able to handle the rough conditions with the mind, mental duress and discomfort, it helps me relate to others who have to deal with those feelings in their lives."

Last year, Goodwin finished second in the 50-and-over division in the five-kilometer Protectors of Freedom race, which will be Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway. But he averaged only eight minutes a mile.

He usually averages under seven minutes per mile. His best finish was in the Hound Dawg Hustle, when he averaged 6 minutes, 43 seconds per mile, finishing the 5K race 20:53. He didn't win that race, but he won the previous race, Bold in the Cold, finishing in 21:04.

Goodwin started running in his 30s but gave it up for many years for walking.

Members of LGRAW would see him walking the neighborhood, and invited him to join the club.

Because he has slowed motor skills that prevent him from doing things such as driving a car, he looked awkward when he began to run again on the trails of Lake Grapevine.

Soon, however, his style began to smooth out and he was running long distances faster than veteran marathon runners. Now, he's an integral part of the group.

"He talks to everyone," president Kelly Richards said. "He runs a wide variety of speeds. That helps him reach out and meet a variety of people. When he's speed training, he can run with some of the fastest people in the club, but when he's doing his crazy 28-mile training runs, he runs a 12-minute mile and joins some of those people. He's made a lot of friends in the club, reaching out to different people."

Goodwin has plenty of knowledge to pass on. He reads a lot about nutrition, keeping to a diet in which he counts everything from potassium to sodium salts. His dietary staple is rice with mackerel, but he adds vegetable oil to ensure there's enough fat in his diet.

He has passed that knowledge on to many of his friends at LGRAW, they said, helping them monitor their diets more carefully.

Goodwin is training for his first marathon, in addition to the Protectors of Freedom race this weekend, because, he said, the smaller races are no longer as challenging.

And that's why he runs � to overcome challenges.

"When you put yourself up against things, it has a tendency to make life easier on you when it comes to the rest of your life," Goodwin said. "I like to be challenged, and I like the feeling when I've done something I wasn't sure I could."

E-mail mweaver@dallasnews.com

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Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/city/tarrant/stories/090703dnnorbenefit.557ba.html

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Replies:

Tom, Do we Have to Bow? -- LN, 16:55:15 09/07/03 Sun