profile on lingren was 7 minutes long....

Reefer Madness wrote:

Maybe they'll never mention the sport again.

who would notice?

Just because your mom slept with the mailman and you are frustrated that you do not resemble any of your siblings, do not be angry at Gerry Lindgren.

Maybe some day the estranged mail carrier will put down his canvas sack, grab a couple of baseball mits, and try to make up for some lost time.

Oh the cats in the craddle and the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man in the moon, when you coming home dad I dont know when . . . but I know we'll have a good time then . . .

Actually, it was 8 3/4 minutes long.

I did not see the show, but I had seen articles on Gerry before. We tend to put our top athletes on pedestals. I too have idolized runners. I would prefer to judge people on their humanity and responsibility. Having personally had my Dad disappear when I was 1.5 years old, and my mother pregnant with my younger sister, I might be inclined to judge someone like this much harsher. We had to grow up in multiple foster homes and it was not pleasent to say the least. Only people who have kids or have been through a similar experience can understand.

Haji wrote:

I agree that his family was better off without him. I bet they could have used some financial help though.

Wow I really hope the original poster was joking.

So why was Gerry's post deleted. Why not give him a chance to have his say?

Cowards.

Elmer wrote:

So why was Gerry's post deleted. Why not give him a chance to have his say?

Cowards.

Our apologies. I just chewed out one of the moderators on this. We had featured this on our homepage. There was a post by Gerry and some nice replies. Fortunately, the lindgren post was in my browser cache so I'm going to repost it in one second under Gerry's handle.

Dude, seriously, this is bullshit. I mean maybe my moral counter is off. But how many of us havn't wanted to just stop, leave, and go live a simpler life someplace else? I sure as hell have. Even though he COULD have sent some money back, I see that as the only thing he really did wrong. Fathers are replaceable, the kid is just a emo pussy out for some attention. I fault Gerry none, actually, I think he has alot more balls than the rest of you gripy little pansies sitting at home behind a computer screen insulting a person who could easily destroy you. You are the immoral people, just judging in the safety of your own little home, eating your doughnuts.

Gerry, if you read this, which I doubt you will, I think that you are the man, seriously. Dont listen to these over analized and under trained asses. Because you are doing what makes you happy.

(feel free to send me hatemail)

RE: profile on lingren was 7 minutes long.... 1/17/2006 2:19AM - in reply to GerrytheJogger Reply | Return to Index | Report Post

I met Gerry Lindgren before, once for several days as I transported him around to talk with youth children about running. When a coach asked about 11 year olds running miles etc...Gerry said " Let them play, this is their childhood let them just have fun now." Question after question by coaches, and all I observed was solid , rational, logical answers. The children laughed so hard at Mr. Lindgren's tales of dogs chasing him etc. I had coaches, kids and parents wanting to know when Gerry Lindgren was coming back for months. Whatever happened 33 years ago, the whys etc. in a mans life, personal life, are not my business. I could go thru every man and women I know and find very regretful tales and skeletons in their past...let alone go back 33yrs plus. I have raised a family, I retired after 23 years as a police officer, I can't name a mayor, city father, Gov. , police chief, city manager...won't even mention Senators etc. in my state that did not have huge skeletons or horror stories in their personal past. Most, that make Gerry's big personal life story look like 1st grade stuff. It is just THEIR stories are never AIRED! My God, who the hell am I to say anything about another human beings past. I talked to Gerry for hours and he was humble, generous, gracious and it seemed to me a better person I could not be in the company of. What more could I ask from a human being......Remind me Ger to tell you the next time we meet, what I pulled 26 yrs ago, I am not proud of it and it haunts me every day, way worse than your deal. You may think much less of me....but I was slick and kept it quiet, went on became a COP no less and I look like a Respectable guy in the community! P.S. Remember two kids had chin splint probs? You said put them in pool, put fins on them and have them stand and write the alphabet with their feet on pool floor? Two weeks of that and the solid dirt roads....the kids could not feel splints at all.....Oh and you don't have to apologize to me for these stories.....your human.....just hope you don't throw big stones at me when I tell you my story. God Bless Gerry, and thank you for how you treated me, my little son and the kids of our region...when we met you. I apologize to YOU for these stories about you...and the self righteous humans that feel they have the right to do this. I would love to be assigned to all of their backgrounds. But then who would care if they had the same skeleton....ESPN editor left his marriage 40 years ago!!!!! No one would care at all....HE WOULD PROBABLY GET A PROMOTION or better!

You don't have anything to be sorry about. I love to run, am getting somewhat older (and slower), and have been separated from an ex in my past too. Your life is your business, and no one else's. When they take advantage of your trust like that, they are the one's that should be sorry.

I read your book. I was in a rut with running after 30 years, and needed something to shake me out of it. Your story did that. Thanks.

All the great runners out there to profile and they profile Lindgren?!? Who the hell was in charge of picking that?

Gerry,

When someone has success and they are thrust into the spotlight they should expect to be thoroughly examined. All areas of our heroes lives should be subject to examination. One cannot be a success and lead a disgraceful life behind the scenes (if one was ever able to - I am not sure that I buy the argument that sports just used to be sports).

As someone who knows much about you, knows Tracy Walters, a former HS teammate of yours, Jim Hume, and grew up in Spokane (grew up near Tracy on Green Bluf), I think the thing that is most amazing is how you expect people to remember you as a runner committed to doing good for the sport. You were GREAT for the sport at one time but then you abandoned your family, the city of Spokane, and the great(est) state of Washington. You expect people to look beyond that, to avoid asking what you did with more than half of your life. That is not fair to your fans or to the sport. I think your family and your fans just want you to say, I am sorry, I screwed up, will you forgive me. Instead, you act like you did not live those thirty or so years when no one knew where you were or who you were.

The good news, Gerry, is that people are forgiving. Your family is forgiving, the people of Spokane are forgiving, and the track and field community are forgiving. Instead of not speaking about what happened, you can choose to turn your life experience into a truly beautiful story of forgiveness and redemption. What I saw on ESPN was a man who desperately wants to put his past behind him but can't. I saw a man that wants to do good in his present life, but a man that cannot overcome his past and speak openly about it. Overcome the past by talking about it, asking forgiveness from your family, and using it to work good in others. The ball is in your court, Gerry.

I will probably never meet you, but from a fellow Spokane native, make things right and this burden will be lifted from you. The press will back off and the running community will again talk about the great runner that you were.

I have faith in you Gerry and want to see you put the past behind you.

Gerry:

I bought your book right before the Christmas holiday; I'm approximately half way through it right now.

My first reaction, on reading your middle/high school experiences prior to meeting Coach Walters and learning how to run, was 'my God, this sounds so much like my own story.' It's inspiring to see how you took the negative self-image and used it to make yourself a hell of a runner. Recently, my running companions and I discussed whether it was necessary to have skeletons/demons/dirty laundry in ones' closet in order to be a good runner - I have to admit your story was the catalyst.

What caused you to 'fall off the face of the earth' and do the things for which you are presently being demonized, I'm not certain. That is something best dealt with between you and to whom you feel accountable.

I doubt you will make everyone happy, but if you can do whatever it takes to make peace with yourself and those you trust...go for it.

I remain a fan and a friend.

Actually its his kids life as well and has affected them. I would like to hear from Gerry if the comments his oldest son made in the RW article are true, and if they are, his reasoning for not being there for them.(I am not talking about divorcing the ex wife, I am talking about his relationship with the kids). And does he have plans for trying to establish some sort of relationship with his kids now that they are getting to be adults

What a great man.

(I was also able to find and repost the 6 replies above this post and below the gerrythejogger post)

Many year ago a running magazine did a rag article on Jim Ryan. Called him mental. Really did a number on him. When the same reporter came to do a story on me I refused to talk to him. He came back three times over two years and I always shunned him. After my ex and I had split, he came again; only this time he found an angry ex with lots to say and no Gerry there to refute it. The resulting story hammered me so good the Ryan article looked like grade school grammar class. I was held away by a lawyer during this process. I never knew about the interviews nor did I ever see the article. Many years later, after the statute of limitation had expired and the article became "common (something)" and ANY publication can print similar articles without fear of liability.

The nail that sticks out is the one that gets hammered. I have been hammered not only by ESPN but by Sports Ilistrated, Runners World Magazine, The Seattle Times, Honolulu Star Bulletin, and others. Thankfully, Fox Sports Net has stayed away from the subject, Running Times has too; The Seattle PI stayed away as did the Honolulu Advertiser, and many other publications.

GerrytheJogger wrote:

he found an angry ex with lots to say and no Gerry there to refute it.

ESPN gave you ample opportunity to refute whatever you wanted. You said nothing. Where do you come off complaining that you do not have the chance to refute something?

Yeah, if someone sticks a microphone in your face so you can set the record straight, and you don't, then you can't blame anyone but yourself if the story has been twisted.

Part of being an adult is taking responsibility. You can't be Peter Pan and expect people to bow down to you because you ran some fast times back in 1964. The reason your dirty laundry is so public and so odorous is because you never have had the balls to step up.

I think you once did have balls, Gerry. Now you're just a shrinking, stuttering, stilted little pansy, unable to accept the fact that you've created a harsh reality for those in your family who have loved you most.

A lot of people have horrible childhoods that they've successfully overcome. To be nearly 60, and still be complaining about your father's treatment of you is just another cop-out to sidestep your personal responsibilities.

The man from Spokane had it right: the public, as a whole, is generally very forgiving. You've put yourself in the situation; only a real man can come forward, come clean, and successfully extract himself from all the scrutiny. It can be done.