Section VI
2022
Our Visit with Bernd bob hodge
B
ernd Heinrich had not been too much on my radar. I have a copy of his book Why We Run: A Natural History, published in 2001, on my bookcase but I have yet to read it. Friends Jack Fultz, Amby Burfoot, and Bill Rodgers were planning to visit Bernd at his cabin in the woods of western Maine and invited me to join them. I viewed the trip, and our little summit, as a chance for some lively conversation with eminent individuals, all with a long life in athletics and other related fields. I knew Bernd, who had taught biology at the University of Vermont and entomology at the University of California, Berkeley, before that, based his research on a blend of his running experience with his science background and field observations. In an interview on PBS NewsHour this year, eighty-one-year old Bernd said: “We are built for running.” I was intrigued, and so I looked into Bernd a bit and picked up a copy of his latest book, Racing the Clock, which I hoped to read ahead of our visit, if it indeed ever happened—who ever thought us old fellas were all so busy? A plan was finally hatched, and I drove over to Lincoln, Mass., early one morning to meet Jack and pack up one of his fleet of cars for our journey. Bill was not able to join us, and Amby and another running friend of Bernd’s, Ray from South Carolina, would meet us there. Bill and Jack and I have been having a pretty regular get-together for dinner at some local establishments though we had some time off for Covid. Being old guys, we usually begin no later than five in the evening, only thing is that once you get us talking, well dinner can take four hours or so. We hit the road for Maine fully loaded with food and drink for our stay, thanking Jack for the gourmet selections of fine food. Bernd lives in one of two cabins he built up a steep rutted rocky road, isolated in a little slice of heaven. When we arrived Bernd and Amby met us at the bottom of the road where we all parked and loaded our stuff into Bernd’s truck for the ride up to the cabins. Ray would arrive a bit later after touring around looking for the correct address. I got to ride shotgun so had a front row seat and felt like I was in a truck commercial where they show drivers doing all kind of crazy impossible things, driving over, through, and around obstacles. We arrived, and Bernd welcomed us to the cabin where we would be staying. There is no electricity or running water and in-and-out Wi-Fi connection, not a problem. I had been thinking about going for a short run as I had only run a deuce earlier this morning, but someone offered up a beer and we all sat around for a few hours getting acquainted, reacquainted, chewing the fat. Eventually Ray showed up straight outta S.C. to join us. In late afternoon we headed out for a short walk to have a look around the woods. Bernd The Lowell Review
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