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MN: Now let's get into the three turning points in your life. Can you share with us the first turning point, when you became a runner?

KY: Well, that was in, I ran my first race May 16, 1982, and I think that changed my life around. Because it helped my self-esteem, other than for running, because I had never done anything physical before. And here I was able to run as well as an average person. Running is not a team sport, so you can run when you want, you can stop when you want. And if you crash and burn, it's your own fault, but if you succeed, it's only you that allowed you to succeed. And I met a lot of people that I enjoyed being with through running. And even now, if I'm five miles away from home, I have no fear that my car would conk out because I know I can always walk home or run home. But I never had that feeling before.

MN: What prompted you to become a runner?

KY: Well, I hadn't skied for a long time, and I was going on a charter bus to Mammoth, and I wanted to get ready for my first ski trip in many years, so I started running at lunch at my work to build up my legs and my cardiovascular system. And the first day of our trip, I was able to sidestep up a hill if you're familiar with that, and I was also able to ski for longer distances because I had built up my legs and my lungs. And the best part was the next day when you're usually sore, I was not. And I guess the final kick was I had met someone on the ski trip who was a runner. And so I needed no more persuasion to continue running. I found out that it was my sport, and I run to this day.

MN: But like in high school, didn't you do any running in school?

KY: Well, during PE, since I was too small to participate in any team sports, I would run around the track. But that was just on my own and would just kill time, so I would run maybe a quarter mile every PE session.

MN: But at that point you never thought about just doing, becoming a runner?

KY: No, not at all. I did ski and I did bowl, so I wasn't completely physically inactive, but running was not something that I even thought about.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2012 Densho. All Rights Reserved.