TRIVIA: What was the name of the first shoe to have a light in the heel?

TRES (3). Three incidents during a six-week period in September and October deserve sharing by this sometimes-jaded fan. The link between the events is running, but they do not involve actual running. The first is about a wonderful chance discovery, the second about a song and its choir, and the third is about a young man and a spontaneous gesture.

While traveling through the Charlevoix area Friday, Sept. 13, my son's 16th birthday, I poked around roads north of downtown near Mt McSauba. Rounding a bend I spotted water and sand, so pulled over in a small lot to take a look. Out of the car I saw a trail nearby with a stone and plaque on it. Reading the plaque put a smile on my face and made the next half-hour pass in a haze of reflection. The winding trail was dedicated to my friend Jeff Drenth, who passed away in 1986.

It's no exaggeration to say Jeff positively influenced everybody he met and the numbers run into the hundreds. That he could run a little, make a couple U.S. international cross-country teams and compete for Athletics West made him a respected, popular guy who we all admired for his unassuming ways and energy.

Last saw Jeff at a national track meet in '85 where we talked about publishing a training log. Less than a year later, I got a call from his brother, Walt, telling me Jeff had died in Eugene. He was gone from heart failure at age 24.

Walt coaches now at Arizona State U., my son is named after Jeffery Scot Drenth, and members of the Charlevoix community worked for years to build the quiet and forested trail in their "fallen son's" memory. I called my son that evening to wish him happy birthday and I told him about the trail, a living legacy. Please, do visit.

Four weeks later, in mid-October and moments before the start of the Women's-Only run/walks in downtown Flint, 559 women of all ages started in on a song that precedes many sports contests. So often, our national anthem is sung from rote memory and not so much from the heart or with conviction. But, with the right choir gathered, following the lead of Riley McLincha in his pleasing, steady voice, we had a minute that usually doesn't pass fast enough seem to take on the shape of some occasion, something special in this city of tough times and promise.

Listening, I looked from face to face, seeing many I knew. This a-cappella minute was minus electronics and a dominant voice, singing the anthem soft and sweet, and each choir member seemed to forget about their nerves and anticipation of the distance ahead. They hadn't forgotten, of course, which is what made the soulful blending of "state and sport" rare and palpable.

Two weeks later I was following my son as he moved down the finish chute at his regional high school cross-country meet in Ann Arbor. It'd been a frustrating year for Jeff following a sophomore year full of improvement, consistent races and PRs. By regionals this fall he hadn't run a hard workout in nine weeks while dealing with a hip ache and diminished capacity for much except easy runs.

Healthy for the regional, Jeff ran well considering and as he walked down the chute, I noticed another runner standing alongside extending his hand in congratulations to exiting runners. The runner was Dustin Voss of Saline and his actions were voluntary, unselfish and mature. Voss, a junior, won the regional fairly easily and has run very well since his freshman year. A week later at the state cross meet he'd sprint to second place in the Division 1 race with the second best time on the day.

Such an unforced gesture by anybody, especially by a tested young champion like Voss, shouldn't go unnoticed. He could've easily gone off to enjoy his victory and the success of his team but, instead, displayed a healthy slice of "old school" good-sportsman behavior first. It was a low-key, big-time act.

LONG MEMORIES. Let's call this the Best of Geezer from a thread titled, "You might be a geezer if ..." on letsrun.com in November '02. Those who post on letsrun use many aliases and responses will have a decided male slant because few women ran in the "Geezer Era." Older Than Dirt:

1. You remember races in yards. 2. You know what (track) cinders are. 3. Your PR's have absolutely no meaning now. Portland Runner: 4. You remember when Runner's World actually covered running. 5. You recall the 2:50 Boston qualifying standard. 6. You thought, "Really, a Kenyan won a gold medal? Good for him!" Flagpole Willy: 7. You remember when women couldn't run the marathon. 8. Filbert Bayi. 9. When you hear "Mary Decker" you still think of pigtails. 10. You remember when Stanford was only good at tennis. No One: 11. (Names) Max Truax, "Mike" Igloi, Jim Beatty. 12. Wide World of Sports had track coverage. 13. (More names) Avery Brundage, Fred Wilt, Norm Higgins. DougM: 14. Your first stopwatch counted time in 1/5 seconds. 15. The mile was the longest high school track race. 16. Running shorts didn't have liners. Idealist: 17. Salt tablets were an important training aid. Skylon: 18. Bee pollen, reindeer milk. 19. Dick Buerkle. Woodman: 20. Dirt tracks. 21. Duncan McDonald. HRE: 22. You still call Asics shoes "Tigers." 23. You got your shoes re-soled. 24. Gerry Lindgren is one of your heroes. Malmo: 25. adidas Tokyos. 26. Springbank Road Races. 27. Nike Starburst logos. 28. Lydiard running shoes. 29. ITA pro track. 30. You remember everything about the day Pre died. MikeOldFart: 31. Tiger Marathons (shoes). 32. Florida Track Club, NYAC, West Valley TC. PB: 33. 24-hour relays. ATL's finest: 34. You're still pissed about the '80 boycott. Oldguy: 35. You had a TACTRUST account. Zatopek: 36. You owned a pair of weighted gloves. Richard: 37. Track & Field News was in black and white. Huron: 38. Altitude trainers. Songdog: 39. You trained in Nike Cortez, adidas Roms, Gazelles and Karhu shoes. 40. You wore Dolfin shorts with those goofy stripes. ChGray: 41. Made the AAU blacklist by taking prize money. 42. New Balance shoes could only be bought via mail order. Paddytheirishman: 43. Neil Cusack skips school to win Boston. 44. Dave Wottle's hat. 45. Ian Thompson and Ron Hill. OldFatGuy: 46. (Names) Kerry O'Brien, Ron Clarke, Dave Bedford. 47. The Ryun/Liquori Dream Mile in Philly. 48. (More names) Patti Lyons/Catalano, Tracy Smith, Byron Dyce. 49. Nike LDV. 50. (And more names) Walt Stack, Nina Cuscik, Jeromee Liebenberg.

ANSWER: Before British Knights took the technology and made a bundle on it, Asics made the Gel Nite Lyte in '93. It cost about $100 and was only made for one selling season. Thanks to Steve Angerman for help on this. MR