Bobby Bright was my good friend and right up until his timely death on July 11, 2009, he was a good friend to the Orange Classic 10K.  Bob was there for me at the finish of my lifetime marathon PR in Maryland in 1975 (2:39:34) and Bob was the one during the summer of 1980 who suggested to the Times Herald Record they stage a 10K race and invite Frank Shorter, which came to fruition July 1981.

 

Bobby Bright and Billy Glatz became business partners in 1978, opening the first running store in the Hudson Valley in New Paltz:  Catch Us If You Can Running Center.  When I approached both of them about the idea of a journey run across America, Bob said no and Billy said yes.  Billy started running with me from LA to NY.  He returned to NP when we arrived in Phoenix.  Billy later on founded the Shawangunk Runners Club.