Woodburn: Farewell to inspirational roll model
Woody Woodburn
Louie Zamperini, the American Olympic distance runner and indomitable POW during World War II, is without question one of the most courageous and inspiring people I met during my three decades as a sports columnist.
Alvin James Matthews is undeniably another. “Unbroken” is Laura Hillenbrand’s bestselling biography about Zamperini and that title equally described Alvin, who passed away in his sleep at age 50 on April 17.
Alvin was not famous, but his fortitude was measureless. The Ventura native ran two-dozen marathons around the globe in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, Antarctica and the North Pole, which had a race-day temperature of minus-27 degrees Fahrenheit that made even the polar bears shiver.
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If you think about it, racing is a strange thing to do for fun. Hang by the infield trash cans at a youth track meet, find a spot deep into a hilly cross-country course, or stand near the finish chute of a marathon, and the disconnect will be hard to miss. What other avocation regularly causes its enthusiasts to redline, collapse, vomit, or worse?
For many of us, the suffering is part of the appeal. We spend so much of our lives chasing comfort and convenience that doing something contrary to that is uniquely satisfying and sometimes addicting.
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