Wanderer's Profile: Rich Greifer

By Petra Kretschmann

Q: How did you get into running?
A: I started when I was 18 and I ran a mile or so in my neighborhood every day. I did this for a year or two and then stopped. I did not run again until I started working at the post office in Roxborough. It was the beauty of the Wissahickon Creek area that got me interested in running again. The Post Office was 2 blocks from the Jeannette St. entrance to the Park. I became a fair weather runner in my thirties, only running in spring and Summer and hibernating in the winter. About three years ago I began buying running clothing for Winter and hence began enjoying running all year long. I also bought a lot of other gear for extreme conditions, as Megan and Susan can attest. Hense the nickname, "Yukon".

Q: Have you done other sports besides running with the Wanderers?
A: As a kid I liked sprinting, football, baseball, hiking, biking, swimming, canooing and camping. my favorite bike ride is biking out and back to New Hope.
I was in a Music and Arts Summer camp for 5 years and we had table tennis tournaments every year. Unfortunately, I came in second place every year. After a few years of losing the big one I got "psyched out", even losing to people I would ordinarily beat in the final.

Q: Have you had any other ambitions?
A: Indeed, I had. My ambitions were to play the first trumpet in the Philadelphia Orchestra. I won a scholarship from the Phila. School District by playing Trumpet for The head of the Music Department of the school district. I also auditioned for the Eastman School of Music , The Curtis Institute and Temple University College of Music.
I went to Temple for 3 years but lost interest as my performance ambitions fell by the wayside. I became an electronics technician for a few years and then got a job with the Post Office as a mailman. My original intention was to switch crafts once employed and to become an electronics technician in the Post Office. I eventually decided that I liked being a mailman and that it was definitely better than being fried by electricity.

Q: What is your next race?
A: Probably Broad Street 2008

Q: Hmm, that won't be in quite a while. - Why not an earlier race?
A: I don't feel the need to run really long runs and my job puts a lot of stress on my body. I will be satisfied if I can run three or four times a week three to five miles. I haven't been able to run this much the last year and a half because of injury. I am currently on the comeback trail.

Q: What are you enjoying in life?
A: I am enjoying music and astronomy. Right now I am taking a class in Music History. I was bored by this subject in college but am enjoying it now. I was only interested in instrumental performance at that age and didn't see the value of this course at the time. I do now. Go figure. I'm a late bloomer.

Q: What is your favorite place to run?
A: I enjoy running from Monastery Avenue to Bells Mills and back. On the trails I prefer to run up the hills and on the trails to the west of the Valley Green Inn towards Northwestern Ave.

Q: What are your hopes for the future?
A: I would like to improve my speed and endurance, lose weight, And, of course, stay injury free.

Thanks for your time and for answering my questions!
More details about Rick's astronomy hobby are to come in the next edition of Waterstop.

star watching early morning east falls

step running in Manayunk

good times with mother Karin

after broad street run

cool down after broadstreet

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