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by Dave Kleckner
Dave has been a member for a little over a year, is a voracious volunteer and has a fantastic family. He is also a Funny Man. |
Focus on ... Dave Kleckner
Voracious Volunteer / Funny Man
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i, I'm Dave Kleckner, and they asked me to give a little background material about myself such as where did I grow up, and about my family. . . . Well, I plan to grow up any day now. . . Or not. . . As a kid, I lived in Queens. Now I live with my wife and kids in Yorkville.
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y sister and I both are really funny, or so we say, while our Dad is not funny at all. My daughter thinks she is really funny (she is), but says that I am not funny at all. My wonderful wife puts up with me and my running. My young son plans to run the Athens Marathon one
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fter running for charity with Team for Kids and the American Cancer Society, I decided to take a break from fundraising and sought out a club team. I’d smartly planned to pick a team primarily based on the running singlet I liked the most. Instead, in the fall of 2008 I picked the Flyers because I saw from the website the fantastic services and opportunities provided to a large, diverse, close-knit community of runners. [ Glen gave me $10 to write that last sentence (even though it’s true—sucker!) ]
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ince joining, I’ve been involved with the club by joining group runs whenever I can. I enjoy the social functions and always try to bring my wife, since she’s more charming than I am and it helps me make friends. Also, I’ve been a Flyers pace group leader for NYRR long training runs, contributed articles to the former newsletter [ does that help explain the newsletter’s sudden disappearance last year? ], posted extremely informative and witty replies on the website [ yes, I’m very humble ], sent happy birthday wishes to most every Flyer I know thanks to Gabi’s listings in the weekly e-news. I also do Flyers community service stuff such as joining in the Central Park clean-up days and collecting used running shoes for people in need via Soles4Souls at Flyers events with Diane Zinn.
Dave K: How am I doing?
Editor: You're doing fine Dave — just keep talking. Anything to inspire the club members?
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omething to inspire the members? . . . Yeah, I'm getting older! No really, getting older is better than the alternative. No one ever drowned in sweat. Runners are funner.
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uring the 2006 NYC Marathon, my then six-year-old declared, “You should run in the next marathon.” I replied, “Okay.” I went for a few runs over Thanksgiving, and then signed up for 3 consecutive NYRR races in December with nearly no running between races. I loved the exhilaration of racing, even though I found it odd that I didn’t win. My very “impressed” friends clued me in that I’m an idiot for not training. Now I spend much of my spare time reading about running, talking about running, working on my running, and still running races. I run for fun, to clear my head (hey, who just said it’s empty enough?!), for fitness, for vanity/ego, for friendships, and for the love of raspberry cream and tangerine Power Gels.
Editor: OK, funny man, tells us some really funny stories.
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ou mean the kind of story that’s embarrassing? There are so many:
And those are the lesser of the embarrassing stories.
Editor: And what about your goals? Career?
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rian and Sungwon have the audacity to say I run really loudly. I don’t disagree. So one goal I have is to run lighter on my feet and maybe one day be able to sneak past people once in a while without them hearing my rumbling coming from afar. I'd like to keep getting faster — I've leveled off lately. Suggestions anyone?
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ut one goal I have accomplished was qualifying for Boston. I was proud of myself for racing my heart out with lungs exploding and legs flailing and failing, fighting back the desperate urge to slow down, as I neared the finish of the 2007 NJ Marathon. I pushed on despite knowing that I was just about to barely miss my first attempt to qualify for Boston. I learned the next day that I’d made it with five seconds to spare and was very proud that I hadn’t given up the fight!
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owever, I am far more proud of myself for having the good sense to have married my wife.
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areer-wise, I’m a faceless bureaucrat. Whoops, I mean a career public servant. Currently I work for the NYC Department of Design & Construction. Before that, I was a Deputy Director for NYC’s recycling program. [ And please recycle this newsletter, if you haven't already recycled it while reading this boring spotlight of me. ]
Editor: Hey Dave, we're on the internet now — you know, we've gone paperless. Now
tell us your favorite things. What makes life good in this bad old city?
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ure, here's a few of my favorite things: favorite time of year? My winter blues start on August 1st when I sense the end of summer. They end on February 1st because February is a short month and spring starts the next month. So I’m happy from February 1st to July 31st because I’m extremely neurotic in how I experience the seasons.
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nd my favorite book? It's got to be John Parker's classic Once a Runner “Races are won or lost here, records broken or forfeited to history, careers made or ended. The third lap [or for me, DK, 3rd mile of a 4 mile race!] was a microcosm not of life, but of the Bad Times, the times to be gotten through, the no-toys-at-Christmas, sittin’-at-the-bus-station-at-midnight blues, times to look back on and try to laugh about or just forget. The third lap was to be endured and endured and endured.”
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ood? I LOVE Indian food. Anywhere. Anytime.
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ovies? Let's see, one of my favorites would have to be Baby Boom. Diane Keaton’s character reminds me of my wife, and the baby reminds us of our daughter. And I like sappy chick flicks.
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nd the best vacation I ever had was when I drove from Yakima, Washington to Tempe, Arizona and kind of felt like I was Easy Rider. Apparently, I don’t get out much. Then again, there was my honeymoon in Italy; biking through Provence with my wife, sister, and brother-in-law and; Disney World when the kids were a bit littler and I could experience the joy through their eager eyes and faces.
Editor: Any hobbies?
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obbies? Look, I’m married with two kids, work a full-time job, keep active at the kids’ schools and in the community, and I’m a runner. Who’s got time for hobbies? Or does e-mailing Flyers and posting stuff on the Flyers website count as hobbies?
Editor: OK Dave, it's time to finish up. Just tell us the best and worst about yourself and your pet peeve.
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ne good thing about being me is I have great metabolism, so I don’t have to run to eat. But now I have to run away from those who are ticked off about that.
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have no bad habits.
Okay. Fine. I eat too fast and sometimes with my mouth
open (Hungry Runner Dave). Actually, I have many more bad habits, but this is a family newsletter.
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et peeve? I TRULY hate it when people hit 'reply all' when they should just hit 'reply'.
Editor: Thanks Dave, it's a wrap.
Dave K: Thanks, I'll take a turkey wrap with melted Swiss cheese, mayo and mustard.
Editor: Yuck!