The oven door folklore (and my own insecurities) kept me from showing up on Saturday mornings until I had run my first marathon. I started running with ODR in late August of 2001, it was such a magical time of year to join this running group. The trail options were plentiful and the laughter was a given. As I started with this group I quickly learned to keep Bill within earshot, because no matter what his place in the pack was he was leading the run. With a few well placed… “Hey! The turn was back here”s and a “Let’s see where this leads” or two, Bill managed to keep us guessing on the run and most importantly to keep us exploring and laughing. Bush-wacking was a given on those runs and to hear a few people say “Oh NO! Poison Ivy… that’s gonna leave a mark” was normal.
I will never forget the run when Bill yelled STOP! with his arms stretched wide to stop us all in our tracks and then said “look… (pointing upward) geese”. My thoughts were in the moment… “Bill it’s Fall and this is western NY… it happens! Let’s run!” But that’s how Bill lived. He saw the magical element in everything… He knew that we all needed to be reminded of these things from time to time.
Bill was not a “respecter of persons” he didn’t care where you came from or what your abilities were, he was just happy you could make it and that he had the privilege of running with you. That is how he made everyone feel… No one felt less than, no one felt not good enough, no one felt unwelcome. No other person could have attracted so many people to do what he loved to do, no other person than a person such as Bill.
Through Bill and with Bill I have met some of the most amazing and wonderful people I will ever meet in all my life. I can never truly express what a profound impact he has had on my life, both in the experiences I have shared with him and in watching how he lived his life. He was one of a kind and will be sorely missed.
Gary Blatto-Vallee
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