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Wager changed Pear runner's life He's been devoted athlete ever since 1979 bet with friend By KRIS HENRY In every sense of the word, Ken Oliver is a winner. In life, love and athletic competition, the 70-year-old with salt-and-pepper hair has come out on top each time. Oliver will take part in his 18th Pear Blossom Run Saturday, with Joanie, his wife of 47 years, taking her usual place on Hanley Road ready to root him and others on during the grueling 10-mile race. "Running is what Kenny does," says Joanie Oliver. "He slips and he'll say, `It's my first love.' Then I go, `What?,' and then he goes, `Umm, it's my second love."' Joanie Oliver might have solidified her hold on her husband's heart had he not made a bet with friend Jim Lowe in 1979. With the two men calling in periodic Pear Blossom updates from their roadside truck, Lowe turned to his companion and challenged Oliver to take part in the next year's run. With pipe in hand, Oliver accepted the challenge and then took his first steps toward a new lifestyle Aug. 27, 1979. In the shadows of the night, Oliver ran around the block twice before venturing back into his home. "I almost said the hell with it, but a bet's a bet," Oliver recalls. He progressed to running around nearby Wilson Elementary School and so on, always at night. "When I first started running I never saw too many runners and I didn't want people to see me run," says Oliver. "I don't know why I was that way. Now I'm scared to run in the dark for fear of twisting an ankle or stubbing a toe." Still wondering what he was doing there, a 50-year-old Oliver finished in the middle of his age group in the 1980 Pear Blossom. The competitor in him immediately came out. "When I finished in the middle of the pack for my age group, I figured I could do better than that," recalls Oliver. With more training, learning to run intervals to increase his speed, and an invitation to join the Southern Oregon Sizzlers running club, Oliver gradually did just that. At 61, Oliver set the age 60-64 record with a time of 1:05.53 in 1991. A broken ankle kept Oliver from competing in 1992, and his record fell in 1994 to John Heppner. In the years since, Oliver has set his sights on enjoying the moment and not necessarily vying for records. "I learned it's better to be part of it and finish fifth, sixth or seventh in my age group than go out there and bust my butt to win it and then not be a part of it," Oliver says. "The numbers and speed don't mean as much to me now. Just being able to get my heart beat up and sweat is more important to me. Being out there is more fun than anything, although I still want to win my age group." Since his first day of training that August night in 1979, Oliver has logged 29,467 miles of running through March 31. He has notebook after notebook stored inside a desk drawer at his home, with each day of each month of each year carefully accounted for in his running diary. With running such a big part of his life, Joanie Oliver warns that she doesn't want to be around when he can't log another mile in his journal. "I say to people, `If he can no longer run, then I'm moving in with you,' because he does love to run so much," she says. "Any woman married to a runner will understand that. My prayer is he will always be able to run." Pear Blossom co-founder Jerry Swartsley has that same wish for his close friend, who is one of seven Pear runners in their 70s this year. "At that age, it's just neat to see how many people we have 70 or older who are out there doing something," he says. "They're not sitting on the couch, they're doers. "I just hope when I'm 70 I can get out and do the things they're doing. I just admire people like Ken." And it's people like Swartsley who rank high atop Oliver's list. "I admire any man or woman who takes up walking or running, but my real heroes are that special 11 who have run all 23 Pear races," says Oliver, who has only missed competing in three events since his 1980 debut. Besides suffering the broken ankle in 1992, Oliver missed the 1988 race after winning a trip to Hawaii and the 1998 race when he had surgery on his bunions. Oliver averages only two or three days off from running per month, putting in about four miles per day on average for that month. He does most of his training indoors these days on the treadmills at Superior Athletic Club, but also gets out one day around the area on his own and another for his Saturday runs with friends Dean Freeman and Ladd Zastoupil. "I just don't feel right for the rest of the day unless I do it and get it done," Oliver says of his runs. "It's just automatic with me. Nothing else comes first." Last year Oliver completed the Pear Blossom in a time of 1:25.44 and in 1997 was at 1:19. He envisions a time between 1:20 and 1:28 this year, but that's not nearly as important to him as being with his friends. "Whatever my friends run, I'll run on their right shoulder," he says. "It won't be the first pack of the race, but it won't be the last, either." Then again, Oliver says final standing doesn't mean that much in the sport of running. "The thing with running is everybody is part of the group," he says. "Just to finish is all you need to do, and you're one of them. You can be last and be a winner. Just like the Pear motto says, `Everyone's a winner."' Especially those like Ken Oliver. Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA