10K run, 25k bike, 10k run- back in the day this was called a biathlon.

The year was 1991 (?).
 
Bedford, Ohio.
 
My brother Dennis was there and I'm pretty sure it was the only race we've been at together  that he wasn't a participant. So I had the pressure of doing a good job for my little bro. I'd always been a avid runner (now a jogger) but I had never trained on a bike, at ANY distance. The only prep I did for this race was at the most a 8 mile jaunt. Hell I didn't even own a bike, I had to borrow one from my brother-in-law Ray.
 
I was pretty confident that I'd do OK in the first 10k leg and that I'd at least finish the 25k bike without killing myself but I had no idea what effect both would take from me during the last 10k. Would my legs give out?  

I remember it being in the fall and that it was extremely cold for that time of the season. Add to this, the wind and rain and Aaarrgghhh!  I also recall that after the race I wished I would have listened to the race director a little better. Never having ran a race before with a transition area, I thought that after you completed the first 10k, you had to wait for the other runners to finish before taking off on your bike. I learned from this mistake rather fast. OK, so it wasn't rather fast, It might have been 2 minutes of wasted time, more on this later...

Dennis wished me good luck and went to the finish line to wait for me to clump through. I hadn't anything to base a prediction time on so Dennis was going to be on his own for some time.

The field was quite large and as normal I stayed towards the rear as the horn sounded. There were a LOT of hills and I remember clocking the first mile at 6:10 and was feeling really good. I think I finished the first 10k in between 38 and 39 minutes (out of reach today-maybe) but back in the day it was a tad slow for me. 

When I entered the transition area not too many runners where in front of me and not having listened to the race director I hadn't a clue what I was to do. So I sat a minute or so and then took my time getting my helmet on and mounted my borrowed bike. I think it was Dennis that found me and said "I think you're suppose to start your bike race now!" It seemed like that was what all the others that had caught up were doing so I figured the youngin' knew what he was talking about.

So off I went.

Through the Bedford Metroparks. Pedal, pedal, pedal. I enjoy riding a bike, you get to see so much more of your surroundings and you can bring a ton of stuff with you. But me, I love running.

So as the story goes, I'm going at a pretty good click and I'm thinking Dennis won't have to wait too much longer. I'll be done with this bike thing and breeze the second 10k, no problem. Heck I'm even passing bikers as I'm sure some of them passed me. I'm feeling REALLY good. I didn't take in to consideration that it was going to be this easy. 1,2,3 miles whiz by, heck miles 4-9 I can't even recall. Then came MILE TEN. 

Note to anyone in the least bit interested in riding a bike: If the chain breaks- you ain't goin' nowhere! So somewhere between miles 10 and 11, SNAP! Damn, not now! All the options started to run through my head. 1) Repair the chain and continue- nope didn't have a repair kit and even if I did, I wouldn't have known how to do it. 2) Ditch the bike and just run the last 5 1/2 miles and then run the 10k- nope- not my bike- not an option. 3) Push another biker off and take their ride- nope. 4) Quit- not on your life, so I opted for 5) Pick up the bike and run with it the last 5 1/2 miles and then clump the second 10k.

This did wonders for my time. I guess Dennis was going to have to wait after all.

Memory fails me on what my final time was, I have it on a results page somewhere, but believe it or not there were a lot of runners that came in behind me.

This was a time in my life when running was all about me and what I could do. I missed out spending time with my wife and kids due to my poor scheduling of my runs. I was very selfish. I was addicted. It was so bad that I'll share something that I've kept inside, since it happened.

My brother Brian who (in 1987 ) was dying from AIDS was visiting in Ohio and was about to leave for Florida and the family was having a get together to say goodbye. I'm sure everyone made it. I didn't , I had to get my run in, I had to log those miles.

There would be time to see Brian. He'll be OK, He'll beat this thing. Running first, family second. Warped.

The next time I saw Brian was on November 1st 1987 in Gainesville, Florida. He lay in a hospital bed surrounded by family. He died November 2nd. That was the saddest time of my life but at the same time it was one of the happiest. My family was gathered around and even though one of us had passed and there was a lot of tears, we chose to celebrate our brother Brian's life, with laughter.

It took a few years to get out of the "Me" aspect of running but with the help of John Kiggins, Dennis Kiggins,  Bill Koszegi jr, Chip Warren, James Bado and Brian Kiggins, I'm now part of a larger running community of "We".

The road will be there tomorrow, so when you have the choice, be there for your family.

If you ever see me run and think to yourself, man is he slow, Just know that it took many , many miles to get this slow and I'm just fine with that. - yoborobrojo