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Because we were all conscious of the need to stay in acceptable fighting shape, and because we would be tested at least once per year, many of us did a lot of jogging to stay fit. When on alert at Shemya Air Station with the Cobra Ball aircraft, we could usually jog around our aircraft parked in the hangar, if the AGE equipment was put up against the walls or was outside. If memory serves correctly, 12 rotations along the tape-marked perimeter equalled one mile. Running a mile and a half, the fitness testing requirement, required 18 rotations around the parked airplane. Many joked that trying to stay in shape was making them dizzy, so they might as well drink beer in order to achieve the same effect more quickly.
AMS Harry Swanson often jogged his normal daily routine of 6 miles, or 72 rotations, a comfortable physical limit at 37-years old, in the latter days of his career. Members of his crew sometimes referred to him as "dizzy," but Swanson preferred to assume they were joking about his many rotations around Cobra Ball. Certainly, any alternative would have been worthy of personal ire and vociferous outburst.
Swanson had several jogging partners, but a regular -- when they were crewed together -- was Carl Antonik. Many of you probably remember Carl, a man with a Pennsylvania accent and a curious way of pursing his lips and tongue. His actions were mostly very deliberate (some said slow) and that, plus his age of 41 years at that time, earned him two nicknames: "Old Man" and "Slug." Carl would always argue with the factual moniker of "Old Man," but he usually simply smiled at the use of "Slug." Maybe he liked it better. Carl was not an angry narcissist, so one never truly knew.
One day, the Ball was down for maintenance, and Carl, Harry, and others were jogging around it with their usual banter. Carl would slowly plod along, get passed by the younger, faster joggers, and get razzed. His response always warned them about how well they would do in their future years. Soon the younger crowd was done and gone, leaving only Antonik and Swanson making their dizzying way around.
It was one of those days for both of them: they felt good and had nothing better to do, so they decided to jog longer. After a bit, they decided that they should attempt a marathon, 26.2 miles or 314 trips around the jet. Breathing hard all the way, they ran around, and around, and around. Swanson began to tire and slow down. Antonic kept his normal snails pace but soon began lapping Swanson. Many raspberrys were passed between the two, and it began to demoralize Swanson --who was a narcissist. After 200 laps, just over 16.5 miles, Swanson talked himself out of continuing, talked himself into being too tired to continue. He walked a couple of cool down laps and went in for a shower. Carl continued to jog, round and round and round.
"Slug" finished that marathon at Shemya, and Swanson, who had thought himself the fittest, did not, lending credence to the moral of the Tortoise and the Hare fairytale. This result has bothered Swanson all these 40+ years since. Not that Carl outlasted him (bravo to you "Old Man!") but that Swanson so easily talked himself into quitting before the 26.2 mile end was reached. Today, Swanson's own 38 year-old son is an ultra-marathoner and says he often has to "dig down and grab this story," which his dad shared with him, just to "get him over the hump."
RIP Carl.