Rodger Pettichord Posted February 17, 2019 Share Posted February 17, 2019 Hi all. yesterday, I was watching a young athlete on TV was remembering my own brief athletic career back in high school. I played basketball and ran track, the latter as a quarter-miler. My highest achievement in either sport was to qualify for the Washington State Track Meet. There, I had the proud achievement of finishing dead last in my preliminary qualifying heat.But at least I did make state. I suspect that there are more than a few Forum members who did much better in athletics than I did. So tell us, what were some of your proudest moments and highest achievements? Go ahead--brag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olderndirt Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I played rugby for Boroughmuir, my secondary school in Edinburgh - always in the scrum. Never took to American football - ball was small (for passing) and didn't place or drop kick as well as the rugby ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 When I was in college (yes, they had those way back then) I set a frat house record by downing 11 beers in 60 seconds............... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassman Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 My "highest" athletic achievement was a belly wacker from the 3 meter diving board....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 Ouch............................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 When I was sixteen or so, I was a left hander and played cricket for Barking Town. opening the batting most games. My highest score was 54. When out of the army and married my wife and I started playing golf. We played until I was 75 or so and I managed to win one monthly mug in all that time. In our lounge, my wife has a trophy cabinet full up with all the stuff she won! I still maintain I was the better golfer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingleaf Posted February 19, 2019 Share Posted February 19, 2019 When I was twelve I was short and fat and couldn't run very fast playing soccer. So whenever I was lucky enough to have that damn ball I would kick, hit and scream at every guy trying to take that ball away from me. End result: Had to watch from the sidelines. Go figure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 I'm sensing that we are a truly accomplished bunch. I feel right at home here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 And some of us haven't posted the really good stuff...................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifejogger Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I ran track in high school (plus some other sports) and my main race was the 440, as we called it back then (400 meters now). In every race I ran I came in second. Why? Because the state 440 champion and record holder was on my team.. We also won all of the mile relays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted February 20, 2019 Share Posted February 20, 2019 I, too, ran track in high school. My main race was the 100 meter hurdles (110 yards back then). In every race I ran I finished last. Why? Because I was lousy at running hurdles............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 10 hours ago, lifejogger said: I ran track in high school (plus some other sports) and my main race was the 440, as we called it back then (400 meters now). In every race I ran I came in second. Why? Because the state 440 champion and record holder was on my team.. We also won all of the mile relays. Remember those final 110 yards, lifejogger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodger Pettichord Posted February 21, 2019 Author Share Posted February 21, 2019 7 hours ago, W2DR said: I, too, ran track in high school. My main race was the 100 meter hurdles (110 yards back then). In every race I ran I finished last. Why? Because I was lousy at running hurdles............ W2DR, in my old high school, there is an annual track award named "The Roy Winston Award for Excellence." It's namesake came from an extremely poor family up in the hills. The family's generations of poverty were heartrending. Chronic malnutrition had resulted in one mentally compromised girl and health problems for her sister, both in my class. They always wore clothes made from old feed sacks. The oldest boy, Roy, was about ten years ahead of me in school. He desperately wanted to run track. My father, the track coach, found Roy a pair of shoes and put him on the team. Roy was horrible at everything, but he did have endurance, so he became a miler. In most races, he finished as far as a quarter-mile behind the rest of the field, but Roy never quit a race. His teammates would gather at the finish line to cheer him on, and Roy would cross the line as proudly as if he had won. In his final race, he faltered as he rounded the last corner and began to run with a strange stumbling gait. As he crossed the line, he collapsed dead. According to later autopsy, the guess was that he had died at the corner, but Roy had refused not to finish the race. To this day, some eighty years later, I have heard that The Roy Winston Award for Excellence remains one of the most coveted awards at that school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2DR Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 What a great story. It makes me feel a bit ashamed about complaining about losing simply because I wasn't very good at track-anything. Sometimes we just need to be reminded how lucky we are................. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 I'm with you W2DR, I was no good at running at all and I was too small anyway so for every step the others took I had to take two! I wasn't bad at games and was keen on football, cricket and table tennis. But although I trained and practiced hard I was never good enough to actually win anything much. Plenty of seconds and thirds but hardly ever the winner. I enjoyed it all though and that story about Roy Winston certainly struck a chord Rodger except that no-one ever rewarded me for being a loser. Although I felt like it sometimes I was never in such a state as I thought I was dying let alone actually doing it! The most exhausted I ever felt in my whole life was when we had finished a particularly demanding jungle patrol in Malaya. By the time we got out I was on the point of collapsing and if the lorry hadn't come to pick us up equipped with plenty of water I've no doubt I would soon have. Years later I had got myself to nearly that state on the golf course. Luckily, they got the pro' out with a buggy and he took me to the clubhouse, sat me down and poured water all over me and into my mouth. That was the end of my golfing activities and sport for me. I was 75. What a sorry tale! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Kane Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 Being Canadian I was into Freestyle Skiing back in the 1980s. I made it to third place in the province which seems high but the sport was so small their was only 6 competitors in my category, therefore I was middle ground. The 2 guys and myself that were in the top 3 left the sport and the 4th and 5th place competitors went on to represent Canada in World Cup and the Olympics. Not that we were better then them we were young and cocky, the true athletes tend to come around at 17 to 18 years old, the young show offs at the earlier ages end up like Al Bundy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lifejogger Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 22 hours ago, Rodger Pettichord said: Remember those final 110 yards, lifejogger? Yes I do!!!!!! Coming around that last turn with you lungs burning like H. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BradB Posted February 22, 2019 Share Posted February 22, 2019 Golf was my game when I was younger and before the fusion back surgery two years ago . When I was in my twenties I was a scratch golfer and my lowest round was a 5 under par score of 66 . Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.