It really was nice to see a smiling Richard Park come strolling into the lobby of the downtown YMCA earlier this week.
It’s been a couple of years since the popular fellow has darkened the door of one of his favorite establishments, but it hasn’t been by choice.
You see, Richard was diagnosed with a rare form of blood cancer in May 2013 called MDS.
He had spent four days hiking in the Grand Canyon right before, but had gone for routine blood work before his annual physical and the doctors noticed that his red blood count was extremely low.
He ended up needing a bone marrow transplant, but the folks at Vanderbilt refused to do that for someone over 60, so Richard went to Baltimore and John Hopkins where he spent the better part of three months and became the oldest recipient of a transplant ever.
That’s not the end of his story.
Just August of last year, he was diagnosed with another kind of cancer that was directly related to the bone marrow transplant. But the wonders of medicine have gotten that situation under control, he’s in complete remission and free to start reliving a life that’s been filled with adventure and fun and lots of outdoor activity.
Richard is now 77 years old, but still doesn’t look a day over 50. He’s retired from Provident where he was an actuary for 35 years and he’s been Pam’s husband for almost 29 years.
And along the way, he had quite a colorful running career that lasted about 20 years. Unfortunately, he had to stop running back in the early 90s when he developed hip problems and had a hip replacement in 2000. Well, it’s time for another one and he’s hoping to get that taken care of later in the fall.
“I’m waiting for my oncology doctors to give me the green light, but I’m hoping to have it in a couple of months,” Richard said during our visit on Monday morning.
“I’m feeling really good, but you can’t take anything for granted as you never know what’s around the next corner. This is the first time I’ve been here in more than two years as I faced the risk of infection. But I’m gonna make a comeback. Just watch and see,” he laughed.
Richard was a regular at the Y for a long, long time, always showing up at 6 a.m. during the week for a group run, more for the social aspect than the fitness benefits.
“I later did yoga, spin classes and swimming as I became more healthy. I needed more strength and flexibility, but what I was doing was helping me get ready for old age,” he laughed.
Richard was an active member of the Chattanooga Track Club during his running heyday and was also a regular at local races. You’ve never met a man who’s any more welcoming or encouraging or interesting than Richard Park.
“That 20 years of running were among the best years of my life, but I wasn’t very smart and wanted to run my best 12 months out of the year. I tried to get a PR in every race,” he remembered the glory days.
Richard grew up on the side of Missionary Ridge. He went to Missionary Ridge Elementary before graduating from McCallie and later Southwestern in Memphis. He’s been a resident of Signal Mountain for the past 44 years, but has recently sold his house and is getting ready to move in with his oldest son Ricky and his family in Rising Fawn on the backside of Lookout Mountain.
While he ran cross country and track in high school and college, he was a couch potatoe until the age of 40 and that’s when he decided to get in shape. He had been playing a lot of handball at the Y and was out at Chickamauga Park one Saturday morning in the spring of 1977 when he saw a bunch of runners go by.
What he was witnessing was the running of the Chickamauga Chase, an annual 15K race that has grown into a popular event.
“I talked to Sue Anne Brown and she told me what it was, so I signed up for the Missionary Ridge race. I had grown up near there and felt like it would be a good one to start with. I had been a miler in high school, so I figured I could do 4.7 miles without much problem. My goal that day was simply to finish,” he recalled.
“I collapsed at the finish line the next year after suffering a heat stroke and ended up in the hospital with a temperature of 106 degrees. I guess I just wasn’t hydrated enough as I just didn’t know any better, but be careful what you wish for because I had my picture in the paper the next day laid out on the ground,” he laughed.
He quickly moved up in distance as he did the Signal Mountain race, which in those days was 6.8 miles. And he also did a 10-miler at Red Clay State Park.
“I was hurting so bad after that race at Red Clay. The late Jon Robere was running with me and I said that I’d never run another step. But I got third in my age group that day and was hooked for life,” he added.
While Richard ran virtually every race on the track club schedule, he later found a love for ultramarathons.
He ended up running 21 marathons and 15 ultras.
His first marathon was at Memphis is February 1979. He doesn’t recall his time, but he has vivid memories of the circumstances.
“The temperature was eight degrees and it was a blizzard. The conditions were absolutely horrible,” he nodded.
His marathon best came at Chickamauga where he posted a time of 3:09:57, qualifying for Boston by a scant three seconds!
“Pam was riding her bike with me that day. I was a numbers person and I knew exactly what pace I needed to run to qualify. I told her I would either make it by three seconds or miss it by three, but I made it,” he smiled.
His most memorable ultramarathon came at Western States, a challenging 100-miler from Nevada to California. It’s a course where you can be running in a foot of snow one hour while battling temperatures over 100 degrees the next.
Richard crewed for Wally Robinson several times before he himself posted a time of 25 hours, 42 minutes in his only finish there.
“My time wasn’t great, but I stayed well-fed and well-hydrated,” he said.
“I just liked to run as it was my passion. I was the race director for the Chickamauga Chase a number of years and was CTC treasurer for two years. I was even Volunteer of the Year twice.
While his running career came to a premature end, his active lifestyle has not.
“I’ve done the entire Appalachian Trail, but it took me 23 years to do it. I guess I ran about half of it and we once did 100 miles in three days.
“I still have some recovering to do, but one of my goals is to finish the Long Trail, a 272-mile trail in Vermont. It’s a backpacking thing and I have 91 miles to go. They’re not easy, but I’m planning to finish it soon.
“I’ve become more aware of my own mortality. We needed to downsize and that’s why we’re moving, but it’s always good to be close to family,” he said with a serious tone.
“Spring has been kind to me as I’ve gotten some of my energy back,” he concluded.
One thing that he has done in the last two years while he had lots of time on his hands was to write a book about himself. He promised me a copy when the final edition is printed.
As you can tell, Richard Park is one more interesting person who has never met a stranger. He may not run like he used to, but he’s still an incredible cheerleader. He’s accomplished quite a bit in his life, but it’s a long way from being over.
If he can just get that next hip replacement checked off, he’ll be ready to rumble.
But no matter what he does, you can bet that he’ll be doing it with a positive attitude and a smile on his face because that’s just the way he is.
(This is the 49th in a series of runners in the Chattanooga area. If you know someone who would make an interesting story, email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@comcast.net. Next week’s feature is Earl Marler, the first president of the Chattanooga Track Club.)