Clarence Mather Was a Runner

On Sunday June 4^th, 2000 my father, Clarence, tied his size 14 New Balance trainers and competed in the Montclair YMCA 10K Run.  He finished 335^th, beating 103 other runners.  His time, 59:07 (9:31 / mile pace), placed him 8^th in his age group.  He was 68 years old at that time. 

It was remarkable that he entered the race.  He grew up on a farm and if you had energy enough to run, there were plenty of chores you should be doing.  His family raised dairy cows (Holsteins) in Cazenovia, NY.  Plowing the field was done by hitching two horses to a yoke.  The family did not own a tractor until my dad was in college. 

My dad would not have gone to college if he had not received a scholarship to study art at Syracuse University.  It was there that he met my mother. 

Upon graduation my dad received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Denmark.  A year later my parents were married in Copenhagen.  The newlyweds returned to America and settled in the Astoria section of Queens, NY where my two sisters were born.

There is a classic story of how my dad got his first job.  Down to his last few dollars, an acquaintance told him to go to 291 5^th Avenue, a 21 story building in Manhattan.  He was told to start at the top floor and ask every business if they needed an illustrator.  It wasn’t until he got down to the 10^th floor before he found a company that did.   

The growing family moved into a 4,000 square foot Dutch Colonial in Montclair, NJ.  Three boys soon entered the brood.  My dad walked at least four miles a day en route to and from his job. 

My dad retired in 1998 and started running five miles a day.  He told me a story about being chased by some wild turkeys.  I couldn’t understand why he was not able to shoo them away.  It wasn’t until this past weekend that I realized how vicious wild turkeys are when I witnessed two turkeys attacking a fawn. 

Somehow he got the wild idea to enter a race - the Montclair YMCA 10 K Run.  The great quote attributed to The Penguin John Bingham comes to mind.  The miracle isn’t that he had the strength to finish.  The miracle is that he had the courage to start.

My dad stopped running in 2005 when my mother got sick.  He wanted to be close to her to try to help her through her illness.  Cancer took her life in 2009.

My dad passed away this past Thursday.  He was 81 years old.  It was a blessing that I was able to spend last weekend with him.  There is a photograph of my dad from that 10K race.  It is easy to see that he was enjoying himself.  Clarence Mather was a runner.