As the director of the Berlin Public Library, Bob Hodge is surrounded by thousands of books.
It seems fitting he’d write one.
Hodge, a Lowell native, is the author of “Tale of the Times: A Runner’s Story,” a 218-page book released in March.
A 1973 graduate of Lowell High School, Hodge is still considered one of the Merrimack Valley’s great runners. One of his records at LHS was just broken last year, a testament to his talent and drive.
A longtime resident of Clinton, Hodge devotes plenty of space in his book to Lowell.
“There is a lot of Lowell in the book,” he said. “It shaped everything. I grew up in the Acre, near the North Common, on Butterfield Street. I did a lot of running there.”
Hodge has long written for running magazines. He has also written blogs. But this was his first foray into writing a book.
“The fun part was the writing. Corralling it into a book is a different matter,” he said. “I’m happy with it. There’s not a big marketing thing because it came out in March.”
He had plans to do a book signing in downtown Lowell at Marx Running & Fitness, before the Boston Marathon, but those plans were scrapped by the coronavirus.
Hodge writes about his life running. There’s plenty to discuss. He estimates he’s run well over 100,000 miles.
At Lowell High, he was the Class A two-mile indoor and outdoor champion. He finished fourth in the state in cross country his senior year.
He ran for two years at UMass Lowell (then ULowell) and his post-college accomplishments are numerous. He finished third in the 1979 Boston Marathon in a blistering time of 2:12:30.
“It was a big surprise,” he said. “My goal was to finish in the top 10. It was a huge personal best.”
Incredibly, four of the top 10 finishers that year were members of the Greater Boston Track Club.
Six years later, he crossed sixth at Boston.
He was the winner of the Beppu-Oita Marathon in Japan in 1982. He cemented his legendary status at the Mount Washington Road Race, a grueling 7.6 mile climb. He won the event seven times, from 1976-80, 1985 and 1987. He also ran at two U.S. Olympic Trials.
His time at UMass Lowell did not end in 1976. He went on to coach the university’s women’s cross country and track teams from 1986-90.
Today he is 65 — and still running. He runs nearly every day, though his mileage is considerably lower than during his glory days.
“It’s sort of like running,” he said with a laugh. “I’d miss it if I didn’t do it.”
The book is available on Amazon. A dozen or so copies are also available at the Marx Running & Fitness location in Acton.
Going the distance
Monday was the last day runners could virtually run the 2020 Boston Marathon in order to officially complete the race.
COVID-19 cancelled the April 20 race, then the rescheduled Sept. 14 race. Runners could pick their course. They just had to finish in under six hours.
Scott Graham and Liza Zappala both dealt with injuries this summer. But both had special reasons to finish.
Graham was looking to run his 34th consecutive Boston Marathon. Zappala wanted to extend her BM streak to 19.
Graham, a Westford resident, had run 26.2 miles on April 20 and the BAA was set to extend his streak. But Graham wanted to participate in the virtual run. He was determined. So determined, in fact, that he accomplished the feat at a track in Moultonborough, N.H. Wearing a headlamp, he began at 3:45 a.m. The first 10 laps were easy. The final 50 or so were not. In order to give his legs a break from the constant turns, he changed direction every 10 laps.
Finally, after a dizzying 106 laps, he had reached his goal. No. 34 in a row was in the books.
Zappala picked a more traditional route.
Starting in New Castle, she ran down the New Hampshire coast last Saturday, taking advantage of perfect weather. The Academy of Notre Dame athletic director wasn’t sure what to expect. Her longest training run was 18 miles, and it hadn’t gone well. To her surprise, she felt strong and ended her run over the border in Newburyport, in a terrific time of 3 hours, 47 minutes.
Zappala’s BM streak is 19 and she has now completed 21 Boston’s. The Derry, N.H., resident has completed 42 marathons, but none compare to Saturday’s run for breathtaking scenery, she said.
Campus safety
Due to the coronavirus, the only athletes on the UMass Lowell campus are men’s hockey, men’s basketball and women’s basketball players. The athletes, coaches and trainers are tested once a week.
Men’s hockey head coach Norm Bazin said his team has had all negative tests so far. Phase 2 starts Tuesday, meaning Bazin’s team will be broken up into two groups. For the first two weeks the team was divided into four groups. The team is skating twice a week at the Tsongas Center and all players are wearing masks on the ice.
Bazin and his team are waiting for Hockey East to make a decision on when the 2020-21 season will start. The only certainty is the earliest the season will start is November.
Director of Athletics Peter Casey said there has also been no positive tests among the two basketball teams.
So far, so good as all three River Hawk teams train for their winter seasons.
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