Tri State
Mills an inspiration, no matter what perspective one has
By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Billy Mills talked. People listened.
The 1964 Olympic Gold medalist in the 10,000-meter run in Tokyo spoke to an intimate, attentive crowd Friday night inside the Chambersburg Middle School auditorium. Perceptions, Mills said, are the greatest challenges we face in a rapidly changing world.
But through programs focusing on self-empoyment, Mills said that dreams do, in fact, come true.
Mills engaged the audience the night before the 2nd annual Race for the Nation 5K, an event which benefits local youth football teams and the Southwest Indian Foundation for Native American housing and education programs. Mills was brought to the event by the Nova Corp, a Native American, tribally owned enterprise operaing throughout the world. Like Nova employees, Mills, too, has traveled the world.
And Mills sees the United States unlike any other elite athlete.
"All we need to do is look at the conflict in America today," Mills said. "We are a beautiful country, but we have many broken wings."
Mills talked of stereotypes and perceptions and recounted a tale from his visit to the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. There as a spectator and honored guest, he was having dinner with his family when some reporters were discussing what might be the greatest Olympic distance running event of all time. Mills's 1964 feat was among those in contention, as judged by the writers.
" 'I'll tell you about that Indian guy,'" Mills recalled one writer saying. "'I know for a fact, today, he's like all the rest of them.'"
His daughter, sensing an impending stigma, urged her father, within earshot of the conversation, to speak up.
"Shhhhhh," Mills told his daughter.
The conversation continued, with Mills and his daughter as a spectator.
"'Today, he's alcohol (and) drug-addicted,'" a writer continued. "'That's the way they all are.'"
His daughter's anxiety increased, knowing that she had never seen her father take a drink.
"That day in Spain, perceptions broke me," Mills said with an air of acceptance, disappointment and objectivity.
His daughter at the time was still confused.
"'Daddy, say something to those men,'" she urged.
"I just sat there, quietly," he said.
"'Daddy, you're my hero," she begged.
"I couldn't respond."
Then, a moment of light.
"'You have the wings of an eagle,'" his daughter told him.
"I stood up, shaken," Mills said after the statement, which took him back to the Indian reservation and a specific time in his father's presence..
"'I said, are you talking about Billy Mills?'"
Shortly, Mills identified himself.
"Their jaws quivered," he said, not with a hint of righteousness.
The men learned that not every Native American boy was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Mills, for his part, learned that the men weren't talking about only Native Americans but, as he recalled, all youth of the generation. Both parties had entered the conversation with a stereotype, Mills said.
That and other instances of hardship and discrimination were constantly reassured by his father's order for his son to "find a dream."
"It's the pursuit of a dream that heals you," Mills quoted his father.
Simply put: "I wanted to run."
Contact Kevin at run@mountainMDmarathon.org.
By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com
CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- Billy Mills talked. People listened.
The 1964 Olympic Gold medalist in the 10,000-meter run in Tokyo spoke to an intimate, attentive crowd Friday night inside the Chambersburg Middle School auditorium. Perceptions, Mills said, are the greatest challenges we face in a rapidly changing world.
But through programs focusing on self-empoyment, Mills said that dreams do, in fact, come true.
Mills engaged the audience the night before the 2nd annual Race for the Nation 5K, an event which benefits local youth football teams and the Southwest Indian Foundation for Native American housing and education programs. Mills was brought to the event by the Nova Corp, a Native American, tribally owned enterprise operaing throughout the world. Like Nova employees, Mills, too, has traveled the world.
And Mills sees the United States unlike any other elite athlete.
"All we need to do is look at the conflict in America today," Mills said. "We are a beautiful country, but we have many broken wings."
Mills talked of stereotypes and perceptions and recounted a tale from his visit to the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. There as a spectator and honored guest, he was having dinner with his family when some reporters were discussing what might be the greatest Olympic distance running event of all time. Mills's 1964 feat was among those in contention, as judged by the writers.
" 'I'll tell you about that Indian guy,'" Mills recalled one writer saying. "'I know for a fact, today, he's like all the rest of them.'"
His daughter, sensing an impending stigma, urged her father, within earshot of the conversation, to speak up.
"Shhhhhh," Mills told his daughter.
The conversation continued, with Mills and his daughter as a spectator.
"'Today, he's alcohol (and) drug-addicted,'" a writer continued. "'That's the way they all are.'"
His daughter's anxiety increased, knowing that she had never seen her father take a drink.
"That day in Spain, perceptions broke me," Mills said with an air of acceptance, disappointment and objectivity.
His daughter at the time was still confused.
"'Daddy, say something to those men,'" she urged.
"I just sat there, quietly," he said.
"'Daddy, you're my hero," she begged.
"I couldn't respond."
Then, a moment of light.
"'You have the wings of an eagle,'" his daughter told him.
"I stood up, shaken," Mills said after the statement, which took him back to the Indian reservation and a specific time in his father's presence..
"'I said, are you talking about Billy Mills?'"
Shortly, Mills identified himself.
"Their jaws quivered," he said, not with a hint of righteousness.
The men learned that not every Native American boy was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Mills, for his part, learned that the men weren't talking about only Native Americans but, as he recalled, all youth of the generation. Both parties had entered the conversation with a stereotype, Mills said.
That and other instances of hardship and discrimination were constantly reassured by his father's order for his son to "find a dream."
"It's the pursuit of a dream that heals you," Mills quoted his father.
Simply put: "I wanted to run."
Contact Kevin at run@mountainMDmarathon.org.
Mr. Mills used the stage to his advantage; not peering over the crowd but instead talking with them.
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Mr. Billy Mills speaks privately with Shippensburg University Cross Country coach Steve Spence before Friday's presentation.
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A handful of Allegany County residents make the 80-minute trek to Chambersburg to hear Mr. Mills, including Mountain Ridge High School running coach Norm DeRosa and wife Patty and son Chris as well as Bishop Walsh coach Mr. Rossi and son Adam.
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Washington County residents Doug Oates, Ray Jackson, Steve Milburn and their better halves listen to Mr. Mills's presentation with rapt attention.
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Mr. Mills kept the attention of those in the audience with a mix of humor, seriousness and honesty, particularly when telling of having suicidal thoughts after his junior cross country campaign at University of Kansas after being excluded from the All-America team photo for having "the darkest skin" of the top five finishers. Knees braced on the window sill in his hotel room high above the streets, there was Mills "rocking back and forth" with a clear intent to make the pain go away.
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