Nicky shows off some of his medals.
Nicky's getting old. :'-(
A few weeks before that race, around Boston Marathon time, I read the chapter in Don Kardong's Hills, Hawgs, & Ho Chi Minh where Don describes his run with Johnny Kelley in his last Boston (1991). Johnny Kelley, it goes without saying, is one of the greats. He started 60 Bostons, finished 56, won twice, and was second seven times. He didn't quit when he couldn't win any more, but kept at it, because he loved the course, and loved the sport. But there came a time when he knew he just couldn't do it any more. His time had slipped to 5:42:54; in 1945, the last year he won, he had been capable of 2:30:40.
This past weekend was the 86th running of the Dipsea. Jack Kirk, the "Dipsea Demon," completed the course for the sixtieth *consecutive* time. Like Johnny, Jack is not just famous for longevity. He won the Dipsea in 1951 at age 44 and in 1967 at age 60 (with an actual time of 1:02:56; the top Bay Area Dead Runner this year, mountain goat Brad Smith, turned in a 1:02:38 at age 43). Jack also won the best time award, once in 1931 with a 50:54, and again in 1940. But like Johnny Kelley, Jack didn't quit when he couldn't win, because he loved the course, and loved the sport. But Jack Kirk too is getting old. Last year, at age 88, he turned in a very respectable 2:13:28, and beat almost 200 people. But this year, I knew Jack was in trouble. Last year, I passed him at the top of the Swoop, at mile 5 of the course. Some time after I finished, I got to see him finish, and hear the roar of the crowd. This year, I think I passed him near Windy Gap, just past the one mile mark. When I finished, I hung around for almost an hour, ran back, and ran into Jack at the top of Insult Hill, still a mile and a half from the finish. It was a very tough year for Jack. He finished in 3:55:00, dead last.
Was it the last year for Jack Kirk? Maybe he just had a bad year; maybe he broke his ankle two weeks before the race or something like that. Or maybe he's just getting too old. One of these years it will be his last; I kind of think this was it.
And Nicky? Nicky and I first ran the Palo Alto Dog's Best Friend Run in 1988. It was my very first race as an adult (I did run cross-country in high school), and of course it was Nicky's first race too. I was 39, Nicky was 3. That first year, our time is unrecorded but it was around 30 minutes. Nicky probably could have done better, but his partner held him back. After that we improved, and Nicky had a distinguished career, not in a league with Johnny and Jack but very respectable, especially given his partner. Four consecutive first places in his division at the Oakland SPCA Dog Run, and a variety of medals in other races. Nicky never did medal in the very competitive Palo Alto run, but he finished as high as 27th overall. As recently as last year, Nicky medalled at the Davis Mutt Strut 5K with a very respectable 21:18.
But this year, I could sense (and his Athlete's Diary graphs show) that Nicky's training was just not the same as before. He just didn't have the stamina to go three miles without pooping out. I'm 47 now, just "a little" older than I was when we started racing. But Nicky's 11, nearly 12. You hear a lot of jokes about "dog years," and who knows what that means exactly, but the fact is, that on our time scale, dogs really do age faster than people. While I've stayed "middle aged," Nicky's gone from boy to young man to mature adult to old man. Alas, unlike the Dipsea, old men don't get 22 minute head starts in the races we do! No, we're up against the young pups of both species, and it seems clear that our competitive days are over.
Will we keep at it? Yes, like Johnny and Jack, we will, because Nicky loves it, loves to run, and loves to race even more. So we'll put up with the frustration of watching the other dogs go by, when once it would have been us going by. But some day, it will be the last time. And it will be so sad.
How do you know when it's the last time?
Steve "Nicky's Running Partner" Patt
in Cupertino, CA