My friend Kenny Moore died five days ago. He was 78 years old. Few people who come and go through this intimidating lifetime journey possess the amazing package of brilliant talents, both mental and physical, that fueled the fierce fire that burned inside the lanky graduate of North Eugene High School, in Eugene, Oregon. He had a way with words and I first saw that touch of his in a piece he wrote for the Eugene Register Guard. The young phenom, Steve Prefontaine, was scheduled to run in an AAU meet on the East Coast and the RG asked Kenny, who was in the area of the meet at the time, to cover the race. Pre came in second to a world-class runner (don't remember his name) and Kenny wrote, "WCR crossed the finish line in (time) and turned to see the future rushing toward him." What a terrific line.
We became friends.
Kenny was a key member of Oregon's 1964 and 1965 NCAA's Track & Field Championship teams. Coach Bill Bowerman admired Moore's toughness and nothing showed that more than his participation in the steeplechase, possibly track's most grueling, demanding races at 3,000 metres with hurdles to clear.
In 1967 Moore won the National Cross Country Championship. In his second Olympic appearance he just missed winning a medal in the marathon and it is insightful to realize that a person who possessed the magic of word manipulation was also the rare human being who has experienced running 26-plus miles while the pounding madness in his mind is demanding that he stop the pain but he wills himself to increase it even more.
And then to experience the exquisite joy of realizing that of all the billions of human beings on the planet Earth, only three could catch him if he ran away. And you have the gift to tell those other billions of people how it felt.
How fortunate I am to have called that remarkable man my friend. For a truly rewarding experience read BOWERMAN AND THE MEN OF OREGON, Kenny's masterful biography of his college coach.
In addition to his enormous talent, Kenny Moore was a compassionate citizen of the world who listened to his better angels and made his community of friendships richer for having known him.
