Mr. Mayor is a proud masters trackster
Round Lake, Illinois — not far from the Wisconsin border — is a fast-growing burg of 15,000 souls with a part-time mayor. But this mayor is an avid masters track athlete who isn’t ashamed of boasting a top-30 ranking in the 55-meter dash. Meet 46-year-old Bill Gentes, “the blogging mayor,” who even links to this ol’ blog.
On Thanksgiving Day, Mayor Bill ran a 5K and posted this:
“Anyway for those keeping score … I finished 158th of roughly 350 people with a time of 32:30. Slow, but it was into the wind for the first two miles and exposed so it was slow going and the best I could do was get the first two miles in 21:00 minutes.”
In May, he issued an invitation to train with him:
“So if any masters sprinters, or throwers want to come out and practice feel free to email me at bgentes@eroundlake.com, I already have 1 practice partner who has joined me at a meet as well! The more the merrier!”
And in October, he posted this:
“My goal this winter on the Winter Masters Indoor track circuit is to reduce my time in the 55, 200 and 400 meters from 8.08, 32.04 and 1:15 to 7.5, sub 28.0 and sub 1:05. I also want to get 5 meters in the long jump, my best is 4.28, and put the shot over 10 meters, my best in that area is 9.28. So anyway that’s why this Precor is a very bad machine it makes me suffer the pain that hopefully will allow me to get the pay off in raw speed (ha). I will report to you on my quest for speed in the next few months because if I put it here I am committing to it!”
When Mayor Bill turned 46 in September, he noted how he’d lost nearly 100 pounds since 2002, when he weighed 283.
On Dec. 17, Mayor Bill plans to compete at the Ted Haydon Indoor Track and Field Meet at the University of Chicago.
He writes: “I am going to compete in the Long Jump, Shot Put, 55 meters, 200 meters and the 400 meters. The meet is on the 17th of December and it takes place most of the day. Entry fees are $6 per event so its easy to go and they have day of meet registration.”
We wish Mayor Bill a great season and more progress on the weight front. Also: Can you pass a tax cut for masters track athletes?
Here’s our hero in action, running a 400 early this year in Sterling, Illinois.
