Ralph White- A Marathon Runner Extraordinaire
In introducing the speaker, Sandy Nichols related that he is a type #1 diabetic, a marathon runner and a local cross country coach.
Ralph White explained that he had given many speeches on running to runners, but never to the general public like today. In 1960, he was diagnosed with Type #1 diabetes, the worst kind that generally manifests into death before the age of 25. He is over 40. He was not allowed to attend PE classes by his high school so his parents partitioned the school to allow him to participate in PE.While he participated in PE he was able to out run the members of the cross country team but his parents wouldn't allow him to participate in afterschool sports. His parents were very protective with his physical activities and his doctor told him, at the age of 27, that he might as well live it up and party as he would soon die. "Now," he said, "Physical fitness is encouraged as a treatment."
He said that a friend encouraged him to start running and he ran about eight miles with him; and, the first time he ran a marathon, he ate three Musketeer candy bars, drank orange juice and monitored his blood sugar level as he ran along. He has since run many marathons, and one time ran over 30 miles from 5 am to
"We were running the trail and just above us a deer was keeping up with us along the ridge line. The ridge line and our trail merged and the deer ran right into my friend and bowled her over," he said. Another time, they spotted a cougar, shouted at it and then slowly backed away into a campground. A group of campers didn't know what to think when these running gear clad people were shouting and carrying on as they backed towards them. "They thought we were nuts!" he said. Ralph is one of a handful of people with type #1 diabetes who has lived with the disease for more than 30 years. He doesn't run any more due to a knee injury. He is a courageous, committed and strong person and told a very interesting story of his running career.