Runnin' Robbie
Check out the ad on page A5 of today's N&R.
It wishes a happy 50th birthday to Robbie Perkins and declares, "Long May You Run."
A young Perkins is shown in his Duke track shirt and striped shorts.
I don't know if everyone in Greensboro realizes what a great runner City Councilman Perkins was back in the '70s.
I trailed far, far behind him quite a few times in both high school and college.
The first time was a cross country meet in Richmond in 1971. Shortly after the start, he ran out of sight. He had his own race, the rest of us had a slower one.
The next year, I was in a two-mile race with him on the track. For me, a good two-mile time was breaking 10 minutes. He ran under 9 minutes that day.
To give you an idea of how fast that is, it's never been done by a North Carolina high schooler.
He was a big star at Duke at a time when Duke was the cross country power in the ACC. Another top runner at Duke was Greensboro native Bynum Merritt.
Duke, Carolina and State all had outstanding runners back in the '70s. In fact, the level of talent hasn't been equaled since. Perkins was one of the best, an All-American.
He continued running after college and made the 1980 U.S. Olympic team. Unfortunately, the U.S. boycotted the Olympic Games in Moscow that year.
Happy birthday, Robbie. I guess you could still leave me far behind.