Anatomy Prof Is Long Distance Runner
3
He Isn't Crazy^ He's a Marathon Champion
By Ina Fried
(From a report by Tish Lobb,
Reporter, Anatomy Department.)
It's 30 degrees (-1 Celsius) and
along comes a man running in
shorts. He's not crazy. And he's not
going to freeze.
Instead, he is relaxing and getting
exercise that will make him feel
better and protect him against heart
disease.
If he is Dr. William C. Hall,
associate professor of anatomy, he
also may be training for a marathon.
Hall, who won the 26-mile, 385-yard
(about 42 kilometers) All American
Marathon at Ft. Bragg this fall, runs
about 100 miles (161 km) a week.
"The most important thing is to
run consistently seven days a week
— rain or shine — even in show,"
Hall said. "There are special suits
you can wear to keep from getting
wet, but if it's dry, your hands are
about the only thing that really gets
cold."
Twice a Day
"If you train for long distances,
you have to run twice a day," he
said. Before coming to work, he
usually runs for about an hour on
trails in Duke Forest. Another hour
in the afternoon must be squeezed in
before dark.
"In late afternoon you're almost
forced to run on the track for safety,"
he said. One runner had to withdraw
from the Ft. Bragg marathon after
running into a parked truck in the
dark.
"One of the nice things about
running is that you don't depend on
other people or have to fit your
schedule in with others," Hall said.
"Ninety per cent of it is done alone.
Occasionally on weekends a group of
us go on three-hour training runs
together."
The average non-runner, huffing
and puffing after a dash across the
OVOU
"The tricky part is when a person
begins to run for the first time. The first
several weeks are such agony. If you get
through that, you enjoy running more
and more."
street, might picture collapse long
before the end of a three-hour run.
Yet to Hall it seems more like 40
minutes.
Addictive Activity
"Something about running is
addictive," he commented. "You get
to the point where it's enormously
enjoyable.
"I don't think I've ever been bored
running," he continued. "Because of
the kind of job I have and because I
have young children at home, that's
about the only time during the day
when I'm alone. Sometimes I think
over the day or about my work.
Sometimes I'm almost hjrpnotized by
the rhythm of running.
Tricky Part
"The tricky part is when a person
begins to run for the first time," he
warned. "The first several weeks are
such agony. If you get through that,
you enjoy running more and more."
He praised track coach A1 Buehler
and the Duke University Preventive
Approach to Cardiology (see
Intercom, Sept. 17, 1976) for
organizing groups of runners who
can reinforce each other and learn
under supervision.
Without supervision, he said, new
runners are likely to overdo and
wind up with pulled muscles or
inflamed tendons which force them
to stop practicing. "Then you have to
start all over again," he groaned.
Informal Coaching
"People like Coach Buehler are
always willing to give suggestions,"
he said. "That's a primary reason
there are so many people running
around here."
In addition to many joggers, about
a dozen people from Durham are
long-distance runners including Ed
Daw, assistant business manager of
the Medical Private Diagnostic
Clinic; Dr. Henry Fairbank, professor
of physics; Dr. Peter Klopfer,
professor of zoology; Dr. Seth L.
Warner, professor and chairman of
the mathematics department; and
Scott Eden, a former member of the
Duke track team now a first year
medical student.
Buehler sometimes arranges
master's races for people over 40,
Hall noted. He also has allowed some
runners to practice with the Duke
cross-country team.
"One nice thing about
long-distance running is that from
the very beginning you can run with
the best," Hall commented. "You
may not win but you can be in the
same race. This gives running an
esprit d'corps you wouldn't have if'
you were segregated according to
ability."
Racing with Champions
Running in several races with
American champions Frank Shorter
and Bill Rogers was "very exciting"
for Hall. Shorter won a silver medal
in the 1976 Olympics. The gold
medal winner, a man from East
Germany, completed the marathon
in two hours, nine minutes, 55
seconds. Hall's winning time at Ft.
Bragg was two hours, 32 minutes, 18
seconds.
"Marathon running is more a
combination of endurance and
moderate speed than lots of speed,"
Hall said. "A long-distance runner is
certainly not the kind who wins a
sprint.
"Races are a good way to measure
how much you've improved," he
said. "Competition makes you run
faster than you would alone."
His goal? "To keep it going as long
as possible. You're always curious
about how much better you can get."
Cancer Association Installs
Dr. Shingleton as President
IMPROVING THEIR
iSKILLS — That was
-;the goal of Verda
\;Adams, standing,
' clerk typist at the
IChild Guidance
^jClinic, and Gloria
jBass, receptionist at
^jthe Eye Center.
jWith counseling
bnd financial as
sistance from Paths
for Employee
Progress (PEP), they
recently completed
a two-year program
in general office
^technology at
Durham Technical
institute. (Photo by
\lna Fried)
Dr. William W. Shingleton,
director of the Comprehensive
Cancer Center, took office Tuesday
as president of the A&sociation of
American Cancer Institutes.
Shingleton has served as the
group's president-elect for the past
year. Ceremonies marking his new
post took place in Houston, Tex.,
during the association's biannual
meeting.
As president of the organization,
representing 51 cancer research
centers, Shingleton said he will push
for more cooperative programs "to
prevent duplication and to allow
easier comparison of results." A
computerized library of treatment
results to be shared by all member
centers will take a high priority, he
said.
Shingleton is the Duke
Comprehensive Cancer Center's first
director. A member of the medical
society faculty since 1948 and a
professor of surgery since 1959, he
also heads the Division of General
Surgery.
He grew up in Wilson, N.C., and
received his A.B. degree summa cum
laude from Atlantic Christian
College in Wilson. He earned his
M.D. degree at Bowman Gray School
of Medicine in Winston-Salem, then
came to Duke for post-graduate
training in surgery.
DR. WILLIAM SHINGLETON
Author or co-author of 82 scientific
articles, Shingleton serves on two
advisory committees of the National
Cancer Institute. He is chairman of
the Cancer Control and
Rehabilitation Advisory Committee
and is a member of the Cancer
Centers Review Committee. In North
Carolina, he is on the board of
directors of the American Cancer
Society's state division.