Harry was out on a morning run in Happy Valley and as he passed Joe Paterno's house the FB coach was taking out the garbage. "Jeez, Joe, I thought your garbage just evaporated by magic," Groves said without slowing a beat.
Another time a bunch of us went out to eat after a track clinic in Philadelphia. The Italian restaurant was packed and the maitre d' told us it would be at least a 2 hour wait. Someone pointed to Groves and said, "But that's the senior senator from Virginia." Within 10 minutes we had a table in the back room. I still call Harry "Senator" when I see him.
He had a bunch of good one liners when I saw him at the USATF meeting in Hawaii, but I can't recall them right now. Put him and Moon Mondschein in a room together (and toss in Marty Stern for good measure) and you'd have everyone rolling on the floor within 5 minutes.
For all his humor he's a shrewd observer of running. As we sat in front of the hotel watching people coming and going on their morning runs, he said "most people would benefit from taking a class in modern dance and doing gymnastics for a season. The good young guys are OK, but most people don't know how to carry their body when they run."