Kenny Dennis, sprint icon, recovering from heart surgery
Kenny Dennis — a short, softspoken sprinter from Los Angeles — is a local legend with tall worldwide stature. He’s a one-time M50 world record holder in the 200 (22.9) who claimed several WAVA sprint titles in the late 1980s. But to his many friends in SoCal, he’s just a reliable fixture at masters meets who quietly shows up, warms up and blasts out of the starting blocks. Lately, he’s been absent from the masters circuit. His last outings were in 2005. Yesterday, I learned his status. He’s recovering at home from double-bypass heart surgery. The good news, however, is that he told his old friend Doug Smith that he plans to compete in 2008. He’ll be 71 in May 2008.
Here’s what Doug tells me:
Talked with Ken Dennis this morning, and discovered that he is recovering at home from double bypass, heart surgery this past week. For years he has suffered with asthma, which has prevented him from training and competing on a consistent basis.
This past year he was training so that he could compete during the 2007 season, but thought his shortness of breath was from his asthma. When he went to the doctor to check his asthma, the doctor immediately placed him into the hospital, and that’s when they discovered the blockage to the heart, and performed the surgery.
He has been home for a few days, but told me that he “feels better already.â€
As soon as he fully recovers, and is released by his doctor to train, he plans to train and compete in 2008 for the (Southern California) Striders.
Our friendship goes back almost 30 years. I remember when he was the California High School State Meet champ in 1955. . . . (In masters,) he led off our (M40) 4X100 relay in 1981, and handed the baton to me when we set the then WR of 43.1. The other two team members were Gary Miller and Al Henry (Al is deceased.) . . . We competed for Corona Del Mar TC back then.
Thought you’d like to know. Kenny is a good friend, and one tough competitor when healthy. He is respected by all who personally know him. I look forward to having him as a teammate once again, and for him being back with us on the track.
I met Kenny in the mid-1990s, when I was starting out in masters. Even though he was close to 60 (and I was M40), he could kick my butt in any 100 or 200. His starts were a sight to behold.
But at an all-comers meet at Long Beach State on February 1, 1997, I ran a then-M40 PR of 26.0 in the deuce — and beat Kenny! It was a huge boost to my ego — to finish ahead of the 1987 and 1989 world masters champion in his WR event! It didn’t matter that he would turn 60 in a couple months.
I didn’t make a big deal of it in front of Kenny (who may go by Ken now). But it was momentous to me — a huge boost to my ego. For Kenny, it was just another race. Ever since, I’ve sought him out and made small talk with him. He’s simply my hero.
Now I hope to see him back, well and fast.
Godspeed, Kenny. See you next year!
3 Responses
Kenny is a great runner and competitor. I’ve seen him run since the early 80’s and don’t remember ever having seen him lose a sprint. He can’t be taller than 5″6 and barely speaks more than one sentence at a time but when he bursts out of the blocks, you’ll never forget him. See you next year Kenny.
Kenny: I wish you a speedy recovery. We have been missing you in Southern California.I remember with nostalgia the good old days of Melbourne, in 1987 when you won gold in 100 and in Eugene in 1989, again.And most vividly in the VA Stadium, Berkely 1987 whe you run in 11.25 seconds 100 meters the day I had my PR of 11.99. Get well soon and I am looking forward to see you soon.
Thanks For the write up, Doug Smith
your track buddie
Ken Dennis.
.
Leave a Reply