Bitten by the Iron Bug

Not too long after I got stationed in Germany in 1980 I was out in a field near the German Army Base that was by our Base throwing the shot and trying my best to teach myself the hammer (damn that shit is hard!) when a couple guys came up and introduced themselves, in German and were quite surprised when I answered back in German.  We really hit it off since they too were throwers and lifters, so after training together we headed down to 'Little America' as it was known in downtown Hardhiem for lunch and people watching.  They invited me to come with them the next day to Würzburg where they threw on a local Track Club... 

HELL YEAH I jumped at the opportunity!! 

I hardly slept that night in anticipation of finally getting around some like minded people and not the guys I was stationed with that just wanted to drink to oblivion and act like fools to a point the local Germans didn't want to interact with them.  Even though I had the bad Army haircut since I could speak German and I didn't act like an ass (well sometimes .... but ...) I was treated differently by the Locals. (we'll come back to this later)

In the morning I grabbed my gym bag and headed to the train station to meet my new friends.  Once we got to Würzburg it was a short but beautiful walk the Track Club's Training Center and one that I would make 3-4 times a week for the next year and a half or so.  Of course we stopped at a nearby cafe for a quick meal and the Throws Coach came in to meet me and talk.  He laided out his rules and expectations for me to be in his Club, very matter of fact and he reminded me lot of Coach Gleeson, my high school track coach who had a huge impact on my life.  I was so excited and egar to get to training that my buddies just laughed but they understood the emotion in me when I was given my training uniform and shown my locker with my name already on it!! 

We became (and to this day we still are) good friends, sadly we lost Peter in 2018.  Over the years we've gotten together the last time was 2011 when the 3 of them traveled to a Highland Games in Germany I was throwing in, I was the only one in the group still throwing but we were all still lifting.  We had a blast eating, drinking a few beers and trading stories of our past glory!!! 

Cue Bruce Springsteen's song Glory Days!!!  hahah

One day on the way home from training I told the guys that I was thinking of heading home for leave when Claus says, "why?" 

I responded with, "you know to see the family and all that stuff"

He starts laughing and says, "Really? But you don't like where your family lives and you'll be home soon enough, anyways we were thinking of all of us taking leave to do a little traveling and you need to come with us because you're one of us!!" 



Peter and John both tell me to "be ready because its the start of off season training and we are gonna lift heavy, eat big and drink some damn good beer and wine and chase girls... fuck we might even catch one but I doubt it!!"

sidenote: Peter met his wife on this trip and were married in 1986 raising 4 amazing kids. Yes we were all there for the wedding. 

A few weeks later we met at the train station like we had so many times over the past year only this time we got tickets for Frankfurt when we got there we purchased our Euro Pass which would allow us to travel all over Europe via busses and trains.  We got some food, found our seats and closed our eyes and woke up in Paris where we stayed for several days with a friend of ours we knew from throwing. Next stop was Barcelona then we decided that we wanted to head to Rome to see the ruins and explore everything Gladiators.  We had a blast in Rome then we dropped down to Naples to see John's girlfriend and crashed on the floor in her flat then bringing her along we headed for Venice for a few days then as Christmas was getting close we all decided that we wanted to go to Münich for our last 5 days to explore the Christmas markets then sadly we boarded our final train to Hardheim where we all lived, we left Peter behind with his new sweetheart.

It's funny, in each place we stopped we did the same things, find a gym, and somewhere to stay close to the gym, eat and laugh then we always seemed to find a museum or historic park to explore (Peter became a university professor teaching history). At night we'd eat good food and stay out until who knows when laughing and drinking beer but we always woke up early for breakfast and of course to train!!! Hell I even found a few girls to talk to.

This trip changed my life!!  I thought I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up but this trip changed those plans and I could not be happier with the way life has turned out.  Like many I have made some mistakes along the way, getting burned by people I trusted but that's the way life goes.

I was bitten by the proverbial "Iron Bug" and to be quite honest I am still just as passionate some 40+ years later at 63 years old as I was back then as a still wet behind the ears 19 year old.

STRENGTH would become my life's pursuit