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Hey SC Runners. This is Coach Wilder from Spartanburg High School. I wanted to let you know what I will be doing for the first five weeks of summer while you guys are sweating in the heat of South Carolina.
I will be in Barrow, Alaska, working with a team of scientists studying the arctic tundra. I teach Chemistry and AP Environmental Science and was given this opportunity to travel to the far north to experience research as it is happening. I will be leaving on May 31 and I’m scheduled to return July.
You can learn more and keep up with what’s happening on my “Polar TREC” by logging onto www.polartrec.com and visiting “Alaskan Tundra Dynamics” found under the Virtual Base Camp.
You can post questions on the site as well. I will be posting some journal entries at SCrunners too. I’ll be taking my running shoes with me to Barrow, which is the northern most community in the United States and sits on the Arctic Ocean.
I became interested in distance running watching the 1972 Olympics and I have been running competitively since 1978, when I started track as a sophomore at Dorman High School. By the time I was a senior had PR’s of 4:27 for the 1600m and 9:38 for the 3200 meters, both of which were records at Dorman until Ryan Jank broke them a couple years ago. Many of you may still remember him. I also finished 10th at the state cross country meet my senior year. It was a bad day. That was after winning the upper state meet the week before.
I started Clemson in 1980 but didn’t run for them. I continued to train on my own and ran my first marathon as a freshman. Later that same year I ran my first Boston Marathon in 2:37. Over the years I have run 14 marathons including three Boston marathons. In 1994 I ran my PR at Boston for the marathon, 2:21:14 and qualified for the Olympic Trials for the 1996 Olympics. I didn’t run well there due to an injury but had a great experience, which included spending three weeks training in Germany with two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, Waldemar Cierpinski.
Now I coach the Vikings and continue to run, although I don’t enter many races. I have always enjoyed being around runners and feel it is one of the best sports around. The competitors I have faced over the years have also always been my friends.
I think there is a common thread that binds runners together. It comes from the respect we have for each other because we know the hard work it takes to compete.
Read more on Wilder's exploration at polartrec.com.
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