Next month will mark the start of my 38th year as a member of Seattle Frontrunners, my 40th if you count the 1983 false start. Frontrunners clubs have been the core of my social life since June 1985 and to a large extent remains so. When I lived in the Bay Area I was simultaneously a member of San Francisco Frontrunners, East Bay Frontrunners (Oakland), and Baylands Frontrunners (Palo Alto) as well as Seattle Frontrunners. In every Frontrunners group I met people who have remained fast friends for decades.

When I recognized that I was gay, I went looking for ways to meet other gay men in Seattle who were not following the Oscar Wilde model. I figured athletics might be a way to do that. There weren’t any Seattle gay running groups in 1980, so I started with the Seattle Gay Hiking Group. They were a great group, but in 1983 I heard about a new gay running group meeting by the concession building at Green Lake. I was living in Tacoma then, and I would bring along a change of clothes, shower at the Green Lake Community Center, and make a day of it in the big city. Unfortunately, that group of about 10 people only lasted through the summer.

I moved to Seattle in 1984. I heard about a new Seattle Frontrunners club and in June 1985, I found a group of men and women behind the Green Lake Community Center who warmly welcomed me. I had found my people. When we started collecting our $7 annual dues, I volunteered to be treasurer to keep track of our nickels and dimes. I passed out membership forms and pink first-timer ribbons to new people at the circle. It was a wonderful way to meet new people.

Now a confession: I am not a joyous runner. I do not twitch with anticipation when I pick up my running shoes. Running is work to me, struggling for air and trying not to trip and fall. I run for fitness and to work off stress. I continue with Seattle Frontrunners because they assure that I will run at least once a week on Saturday. There is something about believing that others are waiting for me that motivates me to run when my mind says, “let’s just stay inside and curl up with a book.”

Seattle Frontrunners helped me find the confidence to enter organized runs.

This photo is from the 1986 Shore run from Seward Park to Madison Park, my first 12K. BTW, I hear tube socks may be coming back.

I also ran the 1988 Bloomsday Run in Spokane, also a 12K. I was lured by the promise of sunny warm weather which proved misleading. While the skies that morning eventually cleared, there were snow flurries when the race started.

This is the post-Bloomsday group photo. The people I recognize include (starting third from left) Dennis Martin, Dan Thane, Florentino Reyes, me, Steve Berglund, and Richard Newman.

As the years passed, I got slower and I stopped running in races other than the Run & Walk with Pride (RWWP). This photo is from the 2021 RWWP. The expression on my face pretty much sums up my feelings about running.

Now I’m pretty much run/walking or as a friend generously characterizes it, interval training. My average pace is about 12:30, about 50% slower than my early Frontrunner times. Regardless of my running condition, I try to make it to Green Lake every Saturday morning when I am in town. If you see me at a run or a potluck, please say “hello.”

Vintage Frontrunner, by Larry Yok