Warren Hellman,Etta James,and San Francisco BlueGrass Fetival

"Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit."– e. e. Cummings

I am sad to report that today there is a memorial service for Warren Hellman in San Francisco.  For those of you, who do not know Warren; let me briefly tell you a little about him?  I met Warren in 1997, during my first ride and tie –the Quicksilver held in San Jose.  I remember sitting at a picnic table afterwards, prior to the award ceremony, talking to him and other world-class athletes.  My first impression of him in no way tells his story.  He was dressed very casually, and in fact, not stylish to say the least.  Later,  I find out and incidentally not from him, that this man is extremely wealthy and is a great sponsor and benefactor of the ride and tie sport.

Upon reading a three page article in the San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/12/18/MNPR1M9LUD.DTL  I found out much more about this generous, extremely wealthy unpretentious man, who has given so much to the city of San Francisco.  He was one of the movers and shakers in San Francisco, but you would never know it by talking with him.  His shirt and pants always seemed wrinkled –it was like he was one step away from being homeless.  The most time that I spent with him was in 2000 at the Tevis Cup. I hooked up with Warren, somewhere around Michigan Bluff and rode the last 50 some miles with him that day.  I remember we talked a lot about childhood.  One item that does stand out was when he told me that his mother died, while scuba diving a sport in which she loved.  That is certainly a positive message that Warren lived out.

As far as ride and tie goes, Warren always had a good running partner i.e. Jeff Townsend and others. He attended the first four Cool ride and tie events and seemed touched when given one of Linda's hand sculpted awards.  The last time I saw him was at Jim Steere’s memorial service. Warren was one of the presenters and acknowledged that he was ill, but did not go into details.

He was the first to complete the Tevis, the Western States 100, and in 1984 with Pat Browning, the Swanton Pacific hundred mile ride and tie. He was a banjo player and since 2001 hosted, put on, and paid all the expenses for the Bluegrass Festival held in San Francisco at Golden Gate Park. For more information about this man I refer you to Tuesday's edition of the Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577108902868084934.html We miss you Warren.  This man certainly left his imprint in the world.

Another recent loss was Leslie Yates an anesthesiologist who practiced in Kentucky.  Leslie was a real trooper, and came out to California to compete in ride and tie.  Periodically I would see Leslie and saw him more frequently these last few years.  He was a great contributor and benefactor to the Cool ride and tie and will also be missed.

Yesterday, Secretariat’s aura was still burning bright.  He was still glowing after his stellar performance at the birthday run last Saturday.  The only person that beat him, during the run that day, was this young 23-year-old running phenomena and he did not beat him by much.  Secretariats goal, from last year, was successful as he wanted to do better on this year’s birthday run compared to last year.  It is obvious what next year’s goal is for him as far as the birthday run is concerned.  Lookout young man! Today, Chris Turney plans to join us for our morning run.