Bill Minehan has always been a better than average runner and even at the age of 52, he still wants to get faster.
Minehan and his wife of 25 years – Deb Horn – moved to Chattanooga in 1990 from Golden, Colorado. He had earned a ceramic engineering degree from Penn State and he transferred here to work for a company called Advanced Technical Ceramics, which makes electrical components.
Minehan lived in Binghamton, N.Y.
while growing up and that’s where his running career began.
His first race ever was a 5K in 1977.
“All I remember is how long it was and how many people were running.
“I always liked to run and did well in gym class, so I decided to run cross country when I was in the eighth grade,” he said earlier this week while relaxing in the lobby of the downtown YMCA.
“I went out and bought a barometer and a stop watch and would time myself while running trails,” he remembered
Minehan ran cross country for four years in high school and track for one.
“I wish I had taken it more serious at the time, but track was too much work and I said I’d quit when I got out of school. I went several years where I didn’t run a step, but I kept having dreams about running and I got the bug again,” he laughed.
He was running about 50 miles a week during the mid-80s when he decided to enter his first marathon. He had a time of 3:35 in a race held in Washington, D.C. – not Marine Corps – and it all just took off from there.
He has since run five more marathons and another race in Colorado called the Rim Rock Run, a grueling event of 22 miles that has a net elevation gain of 1,500 feet. His best time there was a 3:04 in 1996.
“My biggest regret is that I never qualified for Boston,” he admitted.
He also had times of 17:12 for 5K, 36:20 for 10K and 27:54 for 8K during that time.
“We got in pretty good shape and kept getting faster, but those were the fast days,” he remembered the time when he first realized he might have a knack for running fast on the roads.
There were lots of days in the early 90s when he would go to the Y every morning at 6 for his regular run with folks like Nick Honercamp and Jerry and Debbie McClahanan.
And while his quality of running really hasn’t dropped in the last 30 years, there have been times when he had unique inspirational experiences.
One was about five years ago when he was on a plane heading to New York for his 30th high school reunion. During that flight, he met a young lady who had been trained by former world marathon record holder Steve Jones of Great Britain, one of his running heroes in earlier days. That meeting motivated him to get serious again.
“I was hoping to lose some weight and I was able to drop about 20 pounds that year. I’m still close to that same weight now as I’m trying to defeat age by running so I can eat and drink what I want,” he explained.
Minehan got involved in the masters club nationals for cross country and took part in that big-time race for three of the last four years. Training partner Tim Ensign was one of the ones who talked him into it.
“It’s been a fun experience, but I get my tail kicked every time we race as I’m the last one on the team. I’m not in the same league with them, but they inspire me,” he added.
He got involved in the Chattanooga Track Club and ran most of the races for several years. He’s still a regular and just last Saturday posted a time of 5:35 in the Market Street Mile.
He’s also gotten involved from a race director’s perspective as he and Lee Davis serve as co-directors for the Signal Mountain Pie Run, a 10K prediction run held in the fall.
“I was on the CTC board a few years back and was on the race committee. They were talking about decreasing the number of track club races because they didn’t have race directors. I stepped up for that race because we didn’t want them to take that one away. Lee and I have been doing that race for more than 10 years now,” he smiled.
“I really don’t have any running goals right now, although I still do a few races a year. I volunteer from time to time as I try to give back, but running is my lifestyle and these are my best friends. And I want to run as long as I can be competitive,” he added.
Minehan has won a couple of low-key races in years past. He was first in the Families On The Run a few years back and he was the overall winner in the Run For Sasquatch 5K, a trail run in Soddy Daisy last year that benefitted Ivy Academy.
“I also really enjoy the Wauhatchie Trail Run as I’ve done it 15 times or more, but I love the low cost and the low frills aspect of it. And I just like the spirit of the event,” he nodded.
Bill and Deb have an 11-year-old son Jack, who’ll be entering the sixth grade at Baylor in the fall. He’s prefers playing lacrosse and tennis, but he also has shown some running ability.
“Jack likes the idea of running because he’s watched me do it, but time will tell. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, but he may be a runner yet,” Bill concluded.
(This is the 56th in a series of running features on folks in the Chattanooga area. If you know someone who might make an interesting story, email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com.)