(Apr. 2020) James Dill trained over 100 miles/week in the early 1980s, ran a marathon PR of 2:18:45, and qualified for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Buffalo. He continued running hard for another 25 years, then switched to mostly walking to give his knees a break. Now 62, he lives in Richmond, VA, and has picked up fiction writing as a new passion, recently publishing his first novel, Racing Shadows (more below). He says he writes as he ran, with particularly long efforts on weekends.
Career-profession? I am a nonprofit executive director (8 years) for Virginia’s small colleges. Prior to that I was a trust and investment officer with Wells Fargo Bank for 17 years.
When and why did you start running? I started running in 7 th grade junior high school (1970), although I always loved to run as a kid. I was not a ball sports kid, so running cross country appealed to me. After cross country, I went out for track, inspired by Frank Shorter, Steve Prefontaine,
