My new sports hero...

Uncle Benny.

My Uncle Benny....

Let me explain, hopefully we all have some athetic heroes in our life, sometimes they are closer to us than we know.

I grew up very much into sports, in spite of a pretty non-sporting family (3 sisters, more artistic than athletic), and an old-fashioned father from Italy who started late in life into sports.

I was a big t.v. watcher though....

My first hero was Stan Mikita, of the Chicago Blackhawks. I don't know how this happened, or why, but my father did take me to some Leafs Games as a kid, and maybe I was attracted to the nifty uniform and team logo, plus the fact that my local team SUCKED!

I started playing tennis and soccer at a young age, so Pele (the Brazilian legend) was an easy choice, I still recall the poster of him on my bedroom wall. Then Bjorn Borg was "the man" on the courts for sure. I even had the good fortune as a young ballboy at York University to see him and John McEnroe practice before the tournament started, a rare and special treat indeed. The broken tennis string from McEnroe's racquet is still in my possession...

Greg Norman was my pick once golf became my new-found skill, and it hasn't changed much today (did you see that British Open)? If I only had 1/10th of his bank account too...

When I started into Endurance Sports, I was old enough to realize that the hero actually lied within me, but it wasn't hard not to be impressed with the running legends. Unlike just about every other sport, in distance running like the marathon, you actually become part of the story, and you can be part of history too.

Having met the likes of Frank Shorter, Bill Rogers, Lasse Viren (can yu believe that one) and Gelindo Bordin, you realize that runners are a pretty humble lot, and I for one feel pretty good about this association.

Too old to collect signatures and posters though...(:

But now as I mentioned, I have a new hero.

Uncle Benny!

He's in his 80's now, my dad's brother (there were ten in the family). He was always the quietest, over-shadowed by Uncle Andre the real sports fan, or Benny's daughter Guilana, or even my twin sister the feminist. Uncle Benny would rarely say much at family gatherings, and when he did he was quickly shot down.

The other day I dropped by to see him, his wife (Auntie Ero) and their daughter Ghislana, who will teach me French and Italian one day when I spend time in France at her place! I discovered that Uncle Benny was recently riding a bike ("over 30 kilometres") according to witnesses....

...at the newly paved roads near Midland where Uncle Andre has a cottage.

Riding a bicylcle, in his eighties, now that's a role model!

Way to go Uncle Benny, wonder if he'll wear a MyNextRace cycling jersey??

P.D.

peter@mynextrace.com