Bill Rodgers Unplugged - 2020 Boston Marathon Expo

[@ghostboyofgeneseo]

What a fascinating discussion from two truly notable people. I had the opportunity to see Bill Rodgers win the New York City Marathon in 1978 and 1979 inside Central Park, and run in Montreal in 1979, as well, as a young kid. After the Orange Classic 10K in Middletown, NY in 1981 (I was able to stay with Bill for all of 600 meters) he remained with the crowd and signed autographs and chatted for hours. I recall him chanting "Grete! Grete!" referring to Grete Waitz while speaking with one runner afterwards. Conversely, Frank Shorter - who won that day - complained about signing too many autographs, claiming that it would cheapen the value of his signature. Go figure. I still have the autograph that Bill signed for me (on a Runner magazine page) that day. And Tony Reavis' announcing, with that deep intelligent baritone, is forever married in my mind to marathons past. Thank you for this experience.

[@nathanlaing8441]

Meeting Bill and Frank is a dream of mine, a photograph would mean the world