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Claudia Nelson
Beacon Correspondent
When he isn't running track, Jack McHenry of Hydesville may be found liftiing weights at Health Sport in Fortuna, and if he's not running or doing training exercises he's likely swinging a bat and fielding for a softball team. As determined and diligent in pursuing his athletic goals as he was in his youth, McHenry, now 71, adheres also to a self-styled fitness regimen he's convinced has proved beneficial.
To him, keeping fit is a lifelong endeavor in itself, one that may assure its practitioners a healthier, more enjoyable and perhaps even longer life.
”On my side of the family there were problems with cancer and alcoholism. My mother, all six of her sisters, my father and a brother died from cancer,” he said, adding that he is thankful he has managed to remain in good health.
His arteries remain clear, his blood pressure is low and at 150 pounds he's only five pounds over his high school weight. Yet, essential as it is, the attainment of good health is not his only motivator. For McHenry, sports have always been an end in themselves. He took up running and weight training primarily to improve his softball game.
”Softball is my passion,” he said, with a grin.
Born in Pasadena, he was only six months old when he came with his family to Eureka. His interest in sports began early and he played football, basketball and baseball while attending local schools. A Eureka High School graduate, Class of '57, he later attended Pasadena Nazarene College and by 1961 had earned his teaching credential through Humboldt State College. He went on to get a Masters degree in history and taught that subject and science.
McHenry's teaching career lasted 32 years, during which time he taught at Eureka Junior High, Jacobs Junior High and then Zane Junior High. While teaching he coached freshman football and basketball.
Under his leadership Jacobs Junior High freshmen captured six championships in basketball. McHenry also taught adult education classes in U.S. history and current events at Eureka High School for several years.
It was a busy time in his life. “I was coaching, and teaching all day and adult ed two nights a week. So I started running at age 30, to not feel stress.”
He competed in the ten-mile Foggy Bottom run and the eight-mile Clam Beach run, and zipped around a track to keep his speed up.
”I used to run with the CR kids at the end of the softball season,” McHenry said, adding that he's grateful to the college's track coach, Rob Budwig, for allowing him to train with the team. Accompanying the team, he competed in races in Reno, Sacramento, and Humboldt State, not as a team member but in those open to individuals, he said.
While he was in his early 60s, his running times were good for that age. “I did 200 meters in 29 to 30 seconds, and 100 meters in 11 to 12 seconds. He's spent 11 years training at the CR track.
With the Legends, a local softball team based in Eureka that has won several championships, he's played left field for around 12 years.
He's played also on an age 60s travel team, the Classics, traveling to Bend, Grants Pass, Medford, Eugene--for the Oregon league games.
In 2005 and 2006 he traveled to Kauii in Hawaii to compete there. Currently playing for an age 65 and older travel team and a 70s and older travel team called the Fog, out of Santa Rosa, he's participated in games in California and at Reno. His most recent event was the 70 and older competition at Vancouver, Wash. Earlier, in October at the annual Huntsman's World Senior Games this year at St. George, Utah, McHenry competed as a player on the same two teams, whose games were scheduled in two consecutive weeks..
In existence for some 22 years, the Huntsman competition is world famous, and has been likened to the Olympics, for its numerous sports categories. However, participants must be age 50 or older.
”Forty nations are represented there, with 5,000 to 6,000 athletes in it,” McHenry said. He was inspired--especially by one contender, a man aged 104 entered in track competition, as was the man's daughter, who was in her 80s.
”He'd been competing for 12 years,” McHenry said. He was the only one in his age category, and got a gold medal.”
McHenry also has a gold medal, won while in his 60s for softball competition. This year he received a bronze medal, companion to three other bronze awards he won earlier. Although McHenry retired from teaching in 1993, he remains more than merely motivated; he is truly inspired, and serves as an inspiration to others.
He still gets in six sessions of exercise, running track at CR three days a week, doing interval weight training at the gym three days a week. During spring and summer softball season to accommodate the extra activity he moves his weight training sessions to a couple of nights a week. Gardening is also an interest, as evidenced by the attractive yards at the McHenrys' home on Chuck Hole Road.
He decided years ago, he said, that, given his genetic background, his health would depend on proper nutrition, avoidance of nicotine, moderation in alcohol use, and maintaining fitness.
”That and the fact that my wife prays for me every day and I'm a firm believer in the healing power of prayer,” he said. McHenry and his wife Paula, nee Gundlach, have been married 48 years and have lived in Hydesville all those 48 years. An enthusiastic supporter and retired teacher also, she accompanies him on his travels and likes getting to meet new friends, she said. The two are members of the Campton Heights Baptist Church. They have a son, Brad, and daughter, Janine Averill, both of Eureka, three granddaughters and one great-granddaughter.
McHenry credits the coach, Budwig, for teaching him running skills “so important to quickness and speed.”
”I value his mentorship very much,” he said, adding that he appreciates others too, family, friends and even strangers who have told him they are inspired by the goals he has set for himself, his self-motivation. Some have tagged him as “the Jack Rabbit,” he said, referring to his speed.
”Encouragement is a great motivator,” he said. “Remember, for most or all of us, age can be just a number.”
Claudia Nelson/Beacon
Jack of all sports, or three or four, Jack McHenry of Hydesville runs, plays softball and weight trains on a steady basis at age 71, just as he's done for years. McHenry has won several medals, including a gold, in softball.
