Tucker finds pot of gold; Late-bloomer enjoys success at Masters

If you've ever wondered what you might find at the end of a rainbow just ask Rich Tucker.

Tucker struck gold (a gold medal, that is) on the University of Hawaii's "Rainbow Track" at the National Masters Outdoor Track and Field Championships, held Aug. 4-7 in Honolulu.

Earlier this summer, a pulled muscle had 60-year-old Tucker discouraged about the rest of his season.

"I was training this winter and all spring and everything was going well and then I pulled a muscle in my calf, and I thought, 'Well this is great, I trained for months and now I'm done,' " Tucker said. "I told my wife, 'That's it. I've got to find something with less impact, like cycling', but then (my leg) started feeling better and the juices started flowing again."

That's when Tucker competed in and brought home gold medals with first-place finishes in the 400 and 800-meter races at last month's Washington State Senior Games in Olympia. After that Tucker decided to go to Hawaii for the second time this year.

Only this time, he went solo (sans wife) and roughed it in a dorm room at the University of Hawaii.

"A month ago I had a couple of meets to run in and my leg was feeling better so I told myself 'If the meet in Olympia goes well then I am going to go for it,' " Tucker said.

Tucker went all out, finishing first in Saturday's 60-64 800- meter race, just 16 hundredths of a second in front of Larry Barnum of Reno, Nev., with a time of 2:19.69.

Heading into the national meet, Tucker was ranked second in the nation in the 800, five seconds behind Barnum. He was ranked fifth in the 400 and improved in that event as well, just missing the bronze medal with a fourth-place finish.

"(Barnum and I) joke because we have competed the last five years off and on," Tucker said. "I told him he did the work and I stuck by him at the end. Between the heat and the wind it was kind of a tactical race. And I think it was hard for him that he led the whole way. He tried to surge a few times, but I just stayed with him. It really worked to my advantage."

Tucker returns home tonight and says it's time to get back to reality, as the school year will begin in early September.

Tucker spends a lot of time at Spokane Falls Community College. He has worked there for the past nine years and is currently the Associate Dean for student-funded programs. But his ties to Spokane go way back.

Tucker, who grew up in northeast Spokane, graduated in 1963 from Rogers High School, just one year ahead of Gerry Lindgren.

Yes, the same Gerry Lindgren that is considered the greatest high school distance runner, not just with respect to his competitors, but on an absolute basis.

The high school kid that ran down and defeated the Soviets in the 10,000 in a 1964 dual during the height of the Cold War when the U.S. had next to no reputation in the event and then went on to Washington State University where he was a six-time NCAA champion.

After high school, Tucker's parents emphasized what was to come first: a college education.

Tucker, whose $75 tuition bill at Western Washington University was footed by a track scholarship, didn't always run for pleasure.

"Running got me to college," says Tucker. "Basketball was my first love and I always thought about the pros. It was more fun. When I went to college I wasn't into distance running because it was too much work."

So Tucker focused mostly on academics and basketball and ran the 400 for the school's track team. He graduated in 1968 with a Business degree and then went on to a two-year stint in the Navy. When he got out he went back to Western and pursued a degree in education.In 1980, he moved to Pullman and began working for the athletic department at Washington State University. When he turned 40 in 1984, Tucker began to compete at the master's level and actually started enjoying the hard work that goes into competitive distance running.

"When I got into my thirties and forties I wasn't that much slower than in college. But in college it was more of my ability and talent that got me by and as I got older it was about the maturity to train and work hard," Tucker said.

Like all dedicated athletes, there is a method to Tucker's madness.

"Every year it's the same thing. After Bloomsday I get a little more serious and begin training for the track season."

Tucker trains with the Spokane Falls Community College women's track team about twice a week because, he says, "I can keep up with them."

Tucker has participated in Bloomsday for 26 of its 29 years. He also commits to five or six masters meets around the region every year. Those meets, however, don't satisfy Tucker's level of competition like the national meet does.

"If I feel healthy and fit enough I will go to (the national meet)," Tucker said. "It's a lot of fun because over the years you stay in touch with people and then we come together at the national meet. At the senior and state level there isn't a lot of competition so it takes meets like this to get the competition I want."

And Tucker has no intention of slowing down.

"I've lost a couple of friends to cancer this past year. So I figure as long as I can I will run because there are so many people who can't," he said. "It's what I do. As long as I have my health I am going to push it as far as I can."

He may, he says, even push his way to the World Veteran Games after he retires. Barnum is competing in this year's games in Spain.

"(Barnum) is retired so he has the time and money to do that," Tucker said. "My wife is not looking forward to (my retirement) because she knows I will want compete full time."

But the shoe definitely fits, as Tucker can list his victories from the past 20 years of competition at the masters' level. It's obvious his love of running is deeply rooted in his system. Maybe a little too much, his wife might say.

"It's kind of funny," Tucker said, "because I can remember all my statistics. But a birthday, or an anniversary, I can't remember those."

For more results see Stat Sheet or for complete results visit www.hawaiichamps.com.

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