Along the way
An invitation
by Jim Linville

Though we travel by different means, we are all going to The Pedaler's Jamboree.

Man!.. you guys amaze me! I am not a cyclist but I can't keep from wanting to join in the fun. I picture it like a rolling Woodstock. I remember meeting four kids in a VW micro-mini bus passing through Missouri. They were driving to New York to a concert that was going to be "FAR! OUT! MAN!" That was 1969 and I was 13 years old. Yep, Woodstock.

Peace and Love! What do you say? Can we look for Yasgur's farm on the way to Boonville. I'll be the old hippie hoofing it. I'll be trying to hear Jimi Hendrix jammin along the Katy Trail. I'll stop in the General Store to see if I can catch Arlo Guthrie playing with Honky Tonk. Then I'll ramble on down to the Trailside Cafe looking for Joan Baez. With any luck at all, I'll make it to the Katy Roundhouse to see the 3rd Street String Band playing with Country Joe McDonald. I can hear it now as Santana plays lead for the East Ash Street Band and the Wild Cat Daddies jam with Canned Heat. Of course, the Grateful Dead will be the opening act for Big Smith when I finally make it to Boonville.

I'm sure I'll have a serious stagger on the way back Sunday morning but I'll be trying to make it back to the Trailside Cafe before the last chords of "Hey Joe" fade away into the recesses of our collective memory.

Together we can find our way back to the place where we are all family and love is the only language that we speak. Let us catch anew the first rays of the dawning of the age of Aquarius. What's that spell?

Before we start talking about breakfast in bed for 400,000 let me explain what drew me out:
I have a scholarship in my brother Donald's memory that I raise money for by running what I like to refer to as “journeys.” I have ran 6 – 50k events and May 19th I ran one more. The next event is my first 100k on June 4th & 5th. The Pedelar's Jamboree is just an opportunity for one more training day. The why is that I was the only one there the day that Donald died. I was 15 years old and didn't realize what was happening. I didn't recognize that he was having a heart attack. I believe it is a form of survivor's guilt that drives me to honor Don's memory. Running is my therapy.

I started running to try to stop gaining weight and reduce my high cholesterol and high blood pressure. It was after I started running that I found out I have emphysema and running helped me stop smoking. So I run what I call a rhythm run and walk five minutes out of every half hour. My pace on a long run seldom exceeds 3 miles an hour. It takes all day for me to get 30 miles.

The journey that I am on now is to our Charity Partner's booth at Hospital Hill Run on June 5th at Crown Center. I live in Midway and ran to Boonville and back. Then I started at Boonville and ran the Katy Trail to Clifton City. Next, I drove to Clifton City and ran the Katy Trail to Sedalia and back. The 19th was a 50k from Sedalia to Warrensburg. From Warrensburg to Crown Center will be almost 100k. I have a rock that I wear around my neck as I run this journey. I am calling the run “Don Linville Memorial Fund rocks Hospital Hill Run.”

Now that we are all family, you can just call me Uncle Irl.

Rocking Hospital Hill Run Leg 2
I don’t know exactly
(a runner’s report)
By Jim Linville

1st leg – Boonville to Clifton City, 23.7 miles in 8 hours, 37 minutes – 2/10/2009

I headed out on Sunday March 29th to get the second leg of Rocking Hospital Hill Run in. I don’t know exactly why I had been putting it off for sure. But it was going to be now or I would not be getting it done in March. I know that it was the threat of ice that had kept me from the run on Saturday. Surprisingly the snow was still there when I got to Clifton City.

I failed to get a support crew for this leg so I was going to be on my own. That meant this would be an out and back and I wouldn’t be going as far as I had thought. So instead of Clifton City to La Monte I ran to Sedalia and back. Still that is somewhere in the neighborhood of 24 miles. I don’t know exactly why I lag behind technology. If I only had a GPS I would not have to guess at some of the mileage points. I do, however have a computer. MapMyRun tells me that I did make it out 12 miles. You don’t get to do a road trip on the Katy Trail. You just have to go for it and see what is out there. I stopped at the Sedalia Train Depot and then walked down town to the court house. I turned around there and went back out to the trail. I also have a watch, a stop watch. It is one of the more expensive water resistant models you can get at Wal-Mart. So I know I was out 8 hours on the journey.

Some locations take more time to get through. The Shaver Creek Bridge, the Osage Plains marker. You know, you have to have pictures. Oh yeah, I have a camera. It’s a JamCam my son Ray gave me. There is not a lot of settings to mess with. You just aim and shoot and then download it when you get home. Perfect for a foot journey, very light weight. As I was running through a pass cut through a hill, I had to wonder how long it had taken to erode the stone walls as much as they were. I had to slow down and look. I made it up around the bend and there was the Shaver Creek bridge. Writing on the bridge called it “Shave Tail Creek” and the plaque said that it had been built in 1910, exactly.

I don’t know exactly why I have never bothered to get an I-Pod. It seems that some people would not be able to run without one. All I have are the sounds of nature and my foot steps. There are very many of both. That leaves a lot of time for my mind to wander and that it does. I remember as a little boy riding in the back seat of the family car, I would gaze out to the horizon. I would day dream of wandering the hills with my dog Trouble. I don’t know exactly what breed Trouble was, but his mother was a beagle named Gerty. He was a long haired dog and that we had in common. I don’t know exactly whatever happened to Trouble. He just wondered off one day and never came back. Running the Katy Trail is probably as near as I will get to that childhood dream. Maybe I’ll find Trouble there.

I have a camel back. Ray bought that for me last Christmas. The camel back is exactly what I need to run the Katy Trail. It is just the right size for a half marathon and that seems to be the distance between each stop on the Katy Trail. This completes the Katy Trail portion of my Rocking Hospital Hill Run. The next leg will have to be from the Court House in Sedalia to Murdock Banner in Warrensburg. The computer says that will be 30 miles. I love a good 50k. We will be able to road trip this portion. I’ll do that next and let you know how that goes. I will know exactly when the run will be as well. I will have to get my road crew out. That is usually my brother John. He is a very patient man.

Let me leave you with this: If you want to run the Hospital Hill Run on the Don Linville Memorial team, drop me a line at jimirl@centurytel.net.

The next leg will be from the Katy TRail depot in Sedalia to Murdock Banner in Warrensburg. Right around 30 miles.

Don Linville Memorial Fund rocks Hospital Hill Run
By Jim Linville

1st leg – Boonville to Clifton City, 23.7 miles in 8 hours, 37 minutes – 2/10/2009

Leaving out of Boonville trail head at 7:30 a.m. the plan was 23.7 miles of the Katy Trail to Clifton City. The uninitiated would say, “Why?” The frequent runner would say, “so what.”

The Don Linville Memorial Fund has a booth at the Hospital Hill Run on June 6th. The plan is to run there. The route from Boonville down the Katy Trail to 50 highway and on from there to the starting line of the Hospital Hill Run at Crown Center is around 120 miles.

With this being the first leg of the journey let me start at the beginning, “why.” I started running to live. Now running is my life.

As a child I was a Cub Scout and grew into a Boy Scout. I loved the hiking. From growing up on a farm and then in a small town, hiking lets me revisit those scenes. As I moved through my teens and twenties the parties took me through a wasteland of drug addiction and alcoholism. After having found the finish line of my race to ruin, I placed on the mantel my trophy, running.

I’m 53 years old and 5 foot 6 at 190 pounds. I am probably not the best prospect for speed. I developed emphysema from 40 years of smoking. I would guess that I have probably past my peak. What I have found in long distance running is joy. By pacing myself with a 5 minute walk out of every half hour, I can run all day. I average about 3 miles an hour and sure get a good look at the view.

Katy Trail is such a beautiful treasure. I have travelled all of the trails around Columbia. Now, headed south out of Boonville, it is all new to me. I am not sure I can put into words what I saw out there this day. If I could, it would go like this.

Bound

I see the gentle rolling hill as it folds over into the next.
I see the pasture, the field, the forest.
The cleavage plunges down into cool, moist, black earth.
The invitation of the bubbling brook grows into a creek, a lake, a river.
Together these views hold the lives of thousands of creatures
the red tail hawk, the squirrel, the bass.
The mystery is hidden in rock crevice, under brush, abandon relics of industry.
Then there is the human.
Bound to a ribbon that strings through the beauty, aroma, sensation,… life.

Donald Linville Memorial Scholarship fund
Running for better health

Download the DONALD LINVILLE MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP PDF application

Donald Linville, who was stricken with polio at the age of five, was not a person who would accept limitations on his life. He battled through several surgeries, and much hospital time and fought against all odds to continue his education. He was a graduate of Breckenridge High School in Breckenridge, Missouri. He continued his education at Central Missouri State College; where he received a Master’s Degree in the Science of Education. He was a teacher and guidance counselor at King City High School when he passed away on June 12th, 1971.

Being an Affiliated Charity with the Hospital Hill Run, the Grandfather of all Kansas City Road Races is a dream come true for the Don Linville Memorial Fund. We are indeed grateful for the exposure we will receive affiliated with the Hospital Hill Run.

This year the Don Linville Memorial Fund plans to attract 5 runners and raise $500 for the Don Linville Memorial Scholarship as well as provide an attractive booth for promoting the scholarship and the University of Central Missouri.

There are currently two other events through which the Linville’s raise money tor the scholarship. The Don Linville Memorial 50k in Breckenridge, Missouri has been held on the last weekend of August for 4 years now. The Tail-Wind 50k in King City, Missouri has been run on the day after Thanksgiving for 2 years.

Uncle Irl’s will plan on joining with the Race Directors of the Don Linville Memorial 50k and the Tail-Wind 50k as well as friends and Alumni of the University of Central Missouri to attract runners to the Hospital Hill Run.

The Don Linville Memorial Fund is owned and operated by Jim Linville, the youngest brother of Don Linville. Jim has been working to provide funds for the Don Linville Memorial Scholarship at the University of Central Missouri for four years.
Uncle Irl’s is a d.b.a. by which Jim Linville can accurately record the flow of money used in charitable activities. Neither Uncle Irl’s nor the Don Linville Memorial Fund is registered as not for profit.

The Don Linville Memorial Fund is generally able to move all of the money raised from outside sources to the scholarship fund.

TailWind Ultra Run 2008
A runners report by Jim Linville, 11/28/2008 

November 28, 8:00 a.m. This years run was so much warmer than it was last year.  It was a balmy 27 degrees compared to 10 degrees last year. The high of 44 was not record breaking, but the runners were. There were 4 participants this year. Two of them participated in the 10k option, Terry Simmering of St. Louis took first place. Terry Cook of King City sustained injuries and did not finish. Terry Cook was the most spirited participant as he continued to cheer on the other athletes right down to the finish at 5:29 p.m.

            The 20k finisher was a very inspiring runner, Kay McVey of St. Louis. Kay is a Boston Qualifier that has ran marathons in all 50 states. She patiently encouraged the 50k runner, Jim Linville, for his entire first lap. The need for speed is something only the elite runners really understand completely. The second lap she stretched out the pace and enjoyed the course all on her own as she became the first female participant in the TailWind series. Jim Linville continued to run for 9 hours and 29 minutes completing the 50k option.

First? or last? - Warrensburg Half Marathon 2008
A runners report by Jim Linville, 9/23/2008 

Running the Warrensburg Half Marathon I was a little disheartened that the time limit was 3:00 hours. I did Hospital Hill in 3:11, but I am in better shape. What the heck.

My strategy was to start out last and see how many people I could pass. That would distract me. The first young lady I ran with was on a team and only doing a 5k. After the first mile, I had to leave her behind. I caught the second young lady about 2 miles in and she was on another team doing the same thing. I ran with her till her 5k was complete. By then, the next runner was a good half mile ahead of me. I spent the rest of the race trying to catch her.

If it weren't for Paul, the street sweeper on the Gator, I would have missed the 3 hour time limit. He warned me that if I didn't get done under 3 hours, my name would have an asterisk. "Now move your asterisk," he prodded. At 3 miles, Paul came by and told me I had 45 minutes to get done. Not only did I have Paul urging me on, but the aid station workers as they headed to the finish line paused and gave me a "you can do it."

Paul came by and told me, "Down there at the bottom of this hill is the 1 mile marker. You need to be there right about now, but I know you can make it up." He went on to tell me that there were going to be about a hundred people at the final turn to cheer me on to the finish line. He wasn't kidding. Between that final turn and the finish line was a crowd of cheering fans. I held up my index fingers over my head at arms length. "Number one!.... from the rear!"

Coming in 90th out of 90 was not that bad seeing that my time was 2:54:45. But, what really freaked me out was the calling of my name as third place, Men - 52-87. Dead last, third place, old fart. What a day!
The run was scenic. The road was good. The weather was perfect. The staff was friendly, encouraging and just plain fun. All in all, the Warrensburg Half Marathon was the most fun I have ever had running a serious race.

The Tail-Wind 50K
A runners report by Jim Linville - 11/23/07

Thanksgiving night the temperature had dropped to 10 degrees. That next day the temperature never rebounded to above freezing. In the shadow of the wind mills of the Bluegrass Ridge Wind Farm Jim Linville stepped up to the starting line.

It was 8:00 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving, November 23, 2007. The co-director, David Waltemath, called the start of the event. This days run would be 5 laps of a 10k course which Waltemath has used for the King City Chamber Fun Run. The course is a scenic tour that runs from the school house north around the reservoir, then around a country block at the northeast corner of town and back to the school.From the rolling hills the wind mills are always on the horizon. These majestic giants represent man's efforts to gain nature's assistance in fueling the age of technology.

Donald Linville taught math and science at King City high school until his death in 1971. He had graduated from high school in Breckenridge, Missouri. He gained his masters in the science of education from Central Missouri State University. These three events in the life of Don Linville is why the Linville family offers a memorial scholarship to a graduate of King City or Breckenridge that can make the track team or cross country team at the University of Central Missouri.

The Linville family wants to thank the race directors, Barbara Bulla and David Waltemath. They also want to thank Claudia Christianson of the University of Central Missouri for her efforts on the Don Linville Memorial Scholarship. Most of all, from everyone previously mentioned, a heart felt expression of gratitude for all of those friends of Donald Linville that made the donations of $635 to this event. With that level of support we will certainly bring the Tail-Wind 50k back for a sequel in 2008.

The Don Linville Memorial 50k, 2007
A runners report by Jim Linville, 8/25/2007   

Click here for information about the 2009 Don Linville Memorial 50k

Photograph by Paul Hurla

“Where did you go?” That was a very good question posed to me by the blonde headed young man in the little white sports car as I rounded the corner for the last two blocks of a 31.2 mile run. “I saw you every where today”, he continued. Where had I gone? “To McDonalds & back” was the answer I gave, but that was only the short of it. Where had I gone would be hard to explain.

            At 8:00 a.m. the Race Director, Paul Hurla, let go with the starting whistle. Four males & two females of various age groups were lined up at the starting line on the old highway by the Breckenridge High School. The 5k course & the 50k course were both out & back, only a zero made the difference. The 5k field consisted of a mother & her daughter, Kathy & Katy Lee of K.C., Mo., a father & his son, Mike & Joe Resor of Chillicothe & one more gentleman that looked like he had run a race or two. Rob Clevenger of Cameron. The 50k field consisted of Jim Linville of Columbia, one of the founders of the Don Linville Memorial 50k returning for a 3rd running. Brother John is back again this year to man the support crew of the Linville team.

            As the 5k runners sprinted past the gates to the cemetery, the lone 50k runner turned in. The half mile figure 8 through the Rose Hill Cemetery quickly approached the grave of Donald Wayne Linville. How could one man have made such a difference in only 25 years on this earth? 18 roses lay at the headstone, “I love you, Johnny. I love you, Donny. Got to go, Mom. See ya later Daddy.” A quick hug & that was it for the memorial service. Miles to go before we rest. “Where did you go?” “I went to see my family.”

            The sweltering heat of the Mid-Missouri summer had climbed into the triple digits for going on two weeks. Training for a day long run was grueling. But I felt stronger than I have ever felt before. I knew that I was going to break open a new record in the Don Linville Memorial 50k. On to Chillicothe we went. Twenty five minutes running & five minutes walking, mile upon mile, hour after hour. That was the way I trained & that was the way I ran. It left little room for error. I cut three minutes off of last year’s time & that was with a stop for lunch with an old friend, Chuck, at McDonalds. He awoke abruptly Friday morning with the announcement over the radio alarm that Jim Linville would be doing a fund raiser running from Breckenridge to Chillicothe on Saturday. “Don’t stop to pick this man up.” What a way to start the day. “Where did I go?” I went to the edge of my limits.

            Chuck had been one of the old friends at dinner the night before. Paul Hurla, the race director, along with my road crew, our wives & half dozen old friends. I can’t help but smiling, even laughing at the memories we conjured up. All the ones that weren’t there became the topics of conversation, “where had they all gone & what were they doing.” As fortune would present itself, one of our favorite topics, passed away that night in a motorcycle accident about the same time we were discussing “where had they gone.” How tragically ironic.
         
   But, ironic was the path that this course often takes. The first year I ran this course, as I stepped out off of the black top county road onto highway 36, an older gentleman pulled up from the opposite direction. “Jimmy! Is that you?” It was the undertaker that had put my father to rest on that cold February morning back in 1965. Ironic? Where did I go? I went to see old friends, dear, bittersweet, old friends.
         
   This past year we established a scholarship at the University of Central Missouri, Warrensburg in the memory of our late brother Donald Linville. This year’s event earned us $178.20 in donations. Some very generous friends it is that I have. I challenged my co-workers in the University of Missouri Health Care’s Hospital Patient Accounts to express their opinion as to whether I should let my hair grow or continue to keep it shaved. Then I upped the anti by dying my hair bright red & my goatee pink, The Flaming Ampersand. We will continue to grow the Don Linville Scholarship until it reaches at least ten thousand dollars. At that point, it will be endowed & take care of itself by earning interest. Until then, you will hear another story or two like this from me. Where did I go? I went to be with family & friends & that is where I’ll stay.