Bill Floeter (Some Call Me...Bill)
Runner of the Month
November, 2006

"You must remember: Almost nothing I say is serious."

These words coming from a guy who refers to his early running career as "mediocre" having clocked a three mile race at 16:35. Mediocre? Probably not. Serious? That's debatable.

Bill Floeter, or Some Call Me... Bill, the youngest of six, grew up in an Irish Catholic family in the Chicago area. Being one of the smallest kids on the block often earned him underdog status in organized sports but there's no doubt it's made him the runner he is today.

To think, had Bill not been that underdog, the Las Vegas Marathon 21 Club would be short lines like this: "I think I'll get one of these, strap it on a hard hat and go running with my Speedo and tool belt in the middle of the night!" and "You know, people say duct tape can fix just about anything, but I say a couple of beers fixes EVERYTHING!"

Long before that revelation, Bill joined a newly-formed cross-country team in eighth grade. Being one of the three man team and the younger sibling of three cross-country running brothers, he knew he would have fun at the very least. He was right, and he stuck with running throughout high school. His senior year, at a dual meet, is where the "fluke" 16:35 three miler happened.

He argues that run was more of a team effort but Bill kept running after high school, if only to stay in shape and have fun. After briefly attending the Air Force Academy, he graduated with a Computer Science degree from the University of Illinois, still running and refining the art of sarcasm along the way.

Finishing college brought Bill to California where he worked as a software engineer and met a few other runners. He played softball and volleyball and would throw in the occasional 10K. Having hit 40:29 twice, Bill became focused on breaking 40:00. This was all halted, though, by a diagnosis of adult onset asthma. After a battle with medication, doctor visits and finally moves to the Bay area and then San Diego, running felt good again. It was then he would meet and marry his wife, Deedee, and later welcome two children, Hannah and Chris (now nine and seven, respectively) into their family.

It wasn't until a few years later, around 1999, during a self-proclaimed "mid-life crisis" period that Bill decided he wanted to become a marathoner. He wrote down a list of ten things he wanted to accomplish in his lifetime, and in 2003 he checked one off by completing his first 26.2. As the story often goes, the first marathon would turn into more. Driven by the goal of breaking four hours (his first being a 4:04) he ran the New Las Vegas Marathon in 2005 with a finishing time of 3:59.

An accomplished sub-four marathoner, Bill was satisfied. Then he read a thread on the Las Vegas Marathon message board about the idea for LVM21 Club and he knew his running days were far from complete. Running a marathon for the next twenty years piqued his interest and, sort of like when he took up pole vaulting in high school, he believes he's just crazy and masochistic enough to do it.

To steal a line from Bill, I know there's a joke in there somewhere, but I'm not going to touch it.

To TOP