Met a VERY cool guy this weekend

I was at my parents house this weekend dropping off my daughter. My dad invited me to his "Veterans Breakfast" that is held every Saturday morning. I was interested in seeing the men that defended/fought for our country in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and the stories that they could tell.

So....I ended up sitting next to this guy who everyone called "Tal". He was in his late 80's (I think) but sharp as a tack. He was on the USS Oklahoma (which was docked next to the USS Arizona) when Pearl Harbor was attacked. While we didn't talk much about the war or that day in Hawaii when WWII officially started, but he told me that he was a runner and used to run around White Rock. He then asked if I had ever heard of the Dallas Running Club. He was the founding member of the DRC back in the 60's....and how he started the White Rock Marathon. He told stories about running around WR in 'Hush Puppies' because he could never find a pair of running shoes that fit. He told me about his pre-race breakfasts of bacon and eggs before races. His eyes lit up when he talked about his racing days. We talked for an hour straight about running and endurance sports.

Just wanted to share my experience of meeting a Pearl Harbor survivor and the DRC founder. Without him, on both accounts, I don't know if we'd have the WR Marathon or a place to talk about it.