Published: March 26, 2008 01:03 pm         

Reaching a milestone

Local runner logs 10,000th career mile on 69th birthday

What appears at first to be just some random markings in a well-worn ledger actually amount to a detailed account of the last 31 years of Don Snyder’s life.

Snyder began recording his daily mileage in the ledger when he started running in 1977. And when he turned 69 earlier this week, he was also able to record a major milestone — his 10,000th career mile — just pages away from where he logged that first mile.

A lifelong Logansport resident, Snyder said he first started running as a way to combat health problems associated with his allergies.

“Because I have allergies, I seem to pick up colds easily,” said Snyder. “I thought it would help and it has, no question about it.”

Now a veteran runner, Snyder said he can’t go more than a few days without running. But when he was just a newcomer to the sport at the age of 38, Snyder said he was worried his interest would quickly fade. So before he ever took the first step, Snyder said he decided to set a goal for himself and to track his progress.

“I was afraid that I might quit, and I didn’t want to quit, so I thought if I kept track of how far I ran, maybe it’s be more interesting,” he said. “And I decided that I wanted to run 10,000 miles before I croaked.”

Snyder, who graduated from Logansport High School in 1956 and Purdue University four years later, said he started running a mile or two whenever he could. A former member of the U.S. Army and a retired engineer from Delco Electronics in Kokomo, Snyder traveled frequently for many years but still found ways to work in the mileage.

While away on business trips, Snyder logged miles in Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Netherlands, Singapore and Japan. He also ran occasionally in his back yard, but he estimated that he has run about 90 percent of his miles on the small track located above the swimming pool at Cass County Family YMCA.

Snyder said he first became a YMCA member in 1947 when he was just 8 years old. Aside from his years in military service and perhaps a few odd years while he and his wife, Ann, were raising their children, Snyder said he has been a member practically his entire life.

Though many runners prefer the outdoors, Snyder said he found the softer track more accommodating for his joints and the warm, chlorinated air better for his breathing. The challenge, said Snyder, was keeping track of his laps.

It takes 20 laps of the track to equal one mile, and while Snyder said he was usually able to keep track on his fingers, he did occasionally lose count.

“If I have a question about what lap I’m on, I force myself to go back one so that I’m sure,” he said. “I don’t want to say I’ve done 10,000 miles when I’ve actually only done 9,999.”

With the amount of time Snyder has spent running at the YMCA, he felt it was the only appropriate place to celebrate this milestone.

“At first, I considered not doing anything — just going down, running, marking it in the book and being done with it,” said Snyder. “But then I thought the Y might want to use it for the newsletter they do.”

Snyder said he coordinated with YMCA director Ellen Kuker to complete the milestone on his 69th birthday. To make it even more special, Snyder wore a tuxedo complete with a corsage and brought along a few family members to help him commemorate the event.

Snyder said his family, including his wife, three children and nine grandchildren, has always been supportive of his goal.

Now that he has hit the 10,000-mile mark, Snyder said he will probably cut back on his mileage overall but said he will definitely stick with it.

And though it took him nearly half of his life to accomplish this goal, comparatively, Snyder said 10,000 miles isn’t all that much.

“Some guys go out and run 6 or 7 miles each day, so for them it’s probably not a lot,” he said. “But for an old guy, this is OK.”

Carla Knapp can be contacted at (574) 732-5150 or via e-mail at carla.knapp@pharostribune.com