Mile marker 22 finally comes home
Plus: The news of the week — Covid boosters roll out for seniors and high-risk groups — Sonic Automotive makes a big purchase — Huge NC/SC liquor disparity remains
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Swiped sign from original Charlotte marathon is back, 44 years later
For 44 years, Ed Easton (left) hung onto the metal Mile 22 sign from the first Charlotte Observer marathon that he swiped as a seventh grader. It stayed with him over the years through many different states.
by Cristina Bolling
Ed Easton was 12 in the winter of 1977 when the bright orange “Mile 22” sign appeared near his school bus stop along Queens Road in Myers Park — a leftover from the first-ever Charlotte Observer Marathon that, it seemed, nobody had bothered to pick up.
Easton eyed it each day as he waited to board the bus for Piedmont Open Middle School. After about two weeks passed, he pulled the 1-foot by 1-foot sign from the ground, carried it to his home on Radcliffe Avenue, and put it up on his bedroom wall, alongside his Star Wars and Orioles posters.
“It was the height of the Greg Brady era,” he recalls, referencing his room décor.
Easton’s family moved to Bethesda, Md., the next year, and the Mile 22 sign went up on the wall at his new home. It went to college with him at the University of Vermont, and then journeyed on a semester abroad to Japan, then on to everywhere life took him: Massachusetts, California, Washington, D.C., and finally, Texas.
Easton is 55 now and lives in Austin, Texas, where he’s a married dad who works as an administrator for the local transit agency. He’s also a recreational runner.
Last spring, he was cleaning out his garage, as many of us did during Covid, when he came across the sign. He was tempted to pitch it, but he remembered that it was from the first year of the marathon.
Tossing it seemed wrong. He’d recently bought a hat online, coincidentally, from the Ultra Running Company store on Providence Road in Myers Park, whose website draws a national reach. Maybe they would want it?
“It dawned on me that they would know of a good home for it,” Easton told The Ledger by phone on a recent morning. “Even if they pitched it, it wouldn’t be on my conscience.”
In June, he typed out a letter explaining the journey the sign had been on for the last 44 years. He ended the letter with a heartfelt mea culpa:
I would like to apologize to the race organizers, the Observer, and my hometown of Charlotte for my petty larceny. My guilt is assuaged a bit because I know that the sign must have played some subconscious role in turning me into a lifelong runner and fan of the sport.
Easton popped the sign and the letter in the mail and two days later, Nathan Leehman opened the envelope at Ultra Running Company. Delighted, he typed an email to Easton and the two discovered that although they lived hundreds of miles apart, they had running friends in common.
Easton filled Leehman in on some Charlotte running history that Leehman had never known: that Easton had been neighbors in Myers Park with a man named Jim Beatty, an Olympian who had been the first to run an indoor mile in under 4 minutes.
Leehman looped in the directors of the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon, who were equally charmed by the return of a piece of Charlotte marathon history. (Charlotte’s marathon has changed names several times in the 44 years since the inaugural race, from the Charlotte Observer Marathon to the Run for Peace, to Thunder Road, and now, Novant Health Charlotte Marathon.)
Tim Rhodes, race director for the Novant Health Charlotte Marathon, said plans are in the works “for a celebration of the prodigal mile marker” during this year’s marathon weekend in November.
It’ll be on display at the marathon expo the day before the race, and NoDa Brewing will name a lager-style beer for the sign on marathon-eve, Nov. 12. (They may call it “Mile 22 Brew,” Rhodes said.) Proceeds from sales of the beer will go to Novant Health Hemby Children’s Hospital.
The sign could also make an appearance on race day at the marathon’s Mile 22, Rhodes said, which these days is on North Davidson Street near Matheson Avenue — quite a ways from its first location on Queens Road in Myers Park.
Also making an appearance at the marathon this year? Ed Easton.
He says he’s already bought plane tickets for himself and his wife, Roslyn, and their daughter, Summer.
It’ll be a full-circle trip for Easton, during which he’ll run the marathon and take his family around to his old haunts, introducing them to the city where he first beat his dad at a race in Freedom Park, and where his love of running was first formed.
“I’m sure it’ll look bizarrely familiar,” he said.
Cristina Bolling is managing editor of The Ledger: cristina@cltledger.com
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This week in Charlotte: Covid boosters now available for elderly and high-risk; City redistricting moves forward; Harding High principal dies; Panthers go 3-0 but McCaffrey is injured
On Saturdays, The Ledger sifts through the local news of the week and links to the top articles — even if they appeared somewhere else. We’ll help you get caught up. That’s what Saturdays are for.
Education
New job for Johnson & Wales president (Friday 🔒): Cheryl Richards, president of the Charlotte campus of Johnson & Wales University, is leaving to take a job next month as CEO of Catapult, a company that provides human resources services to companies.
Harding High principal dies: (WFAE) Eric Ward, a longtime Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools administrator who had been principal of four schools, died suddenly of a stroke Wednesday at age 46. Ward was principal of Harding University High School in west Charlotte at the time of his death. He had worked for CMS for 24 years.
Union County Covid policies: The Union County school board voted Monday to abide by North Carolina’s quarantine rules, which state that students or staff who have close contact with people who test positive for Covid should quarantine if they are not vaccinated or wearing masks. Union County does not require masks in school and was not previously abiding by any quarantine guidelines or doing contact tracing, so state health officials threatened legal action if the county didn’t comply with quarantine rules.
Politics
City Council redistricting moves forward: (WFAE) The Charlotte City Council seems to be moving closer to slightly revised district maps that should keep the balance between the two parties close to where it is now. Democrats hold a 9-2 advantage on the council.
Local news
Covid boosters available for seniors and high-risk groups: Following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services said Friday that people in eligible groups who received the Pfizer Covid vaccine should receive a booster shot, which should now be available. Boosters are being offered to those over age 65 and to younger adults with certain medical conditions or who face a higher risk of exposure. “Pfizer boosters are now authorized for certain groups of individuals to extend the protection of vaccines against severe illness,” NCDHHS Secretary Mandy Cohen said. “If you are eligible, get your booster. If you aren’t vaccinated yet, don’t wait.” Novant Health said it would start boosters Monday, while Atrium Health said it would start next week.
Officer-involved shooting: (Observer) A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officer shot and wounded a woman outside a beauty supply store on Tyvola Road on Thursday. Police were responding to reports of an armed woman firing gunshots, and the woman allegedly tried to hit a police officer on a motorcycle with her car.
Business
SouthPark development: (Ledger Wednesday 🔒) An aging condo complex on 9 acres in SouthPark is contemplating selling to a developer. It’s an unusual move because condos are separately owned, but it could become more common in Charlotte as redevelopment pressures mount.
Another bank heading to Charlotte? (Ledger Wednesday 🔒) Silicon Valley Bank has posted for about 60 jobs in Charlotte, though it has announced no office here.
Car deal: (Observer) Sonic Automotive said it is buying RFJ Auto Partners for $700M in what it called “one of the largest transactions in automotive retail history.” The deal is expected to make Charlotte-based Sonic one of the five biggest auto dealers in the U.S. by total revenues. It also expands Sonic’s reach into six new states, the company said in a statement.
Sports
Panthers win, McCaffrey injured: (ESPN) The Carolina Panthers beat the Texans on Thursday to go to 3-0, but star running back Christian McCaffrey left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury. Coach Matt Rhule said after the game that he didn’t know the severity of McCaffrey’s injury. He’s expected to be out several weeks.
High school sports reform: (HighSchoolOT.com) Republicans in Raleigh say they have reached an agreement on restructuring the N.C. High School Athletic Association to provide greater financial oversight. But details were scarce. A bill moving through the legislature would strip the NCHSAA of much of its power to oversee high school athletics in the state.
From the Ledger family of newsletters
Chicken plans: (Friday 🔒) The Chick-fil-A on Randolph Road in Cotswold is planning an overhaul that could reduce the number of cars that back up onto the street. Also, the Chick-fil-A on Woodlawn Road near Park Road Shopping Center reopened on Thursday after being closed for nine months for renovations.
Time for mall overhaul: (Friday 🔒) Many of the Charlotte area’s shopping malls are struggling, with the number of shoppers still below 2019 levels and questions about their future at a time when people are ordering more online. Which ones will survive, and what will they become?
Visions of a changed church: (Friday 🔒) Following the approval of townhomes on Selwyn Avenue in Myers Park on land that used to be a church, the surviving congregation is working on a vision to transform its campus on Woodlawn Road to be more connected to the community.
Liquor differences in 2 states: (Wednesday) Photos from Mecklenburg County ABC stores and South Carolina liquor stores show two very different realities: Charlotte stores are out of a lot of liquor, but South Carolina appears nearly fully stocked. North Carolina has blamed problems on a new vendor’s warehousing and distribution system.
College admissions online panel — Save the date: The Ledger will be holding on online discussion on what parents need to know about college admissions. It will be Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. and open to Ledger members. Look for more details next week. The Ledger is holding the event in partnership with Jumbo, a local company that develops live-streaming platforms.
The Buttercup on the move: (Monday) Longtime Eastover gift and stationery store The Buttercup is moving to a new location after 27 years.
Q&A with new Bechtler leader: (Monday) Todd Smith, executive director of the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, discusses Charlotte’s art scene coming out of the pandemic, staff changes at the museum, the future of fundraising and a new immersive exhibit starting next month.
Transit lessons from Thomas: (Transit Time) What can Charlotte learn from the children’s show “Thomas the Tank Engine”? Ely Portillo of the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute draws parallels between the fictional land of Sodor, inhabited by talking trains, and Charlotte, which wants to expand its transit system.
Ways of Life newsletter: (🔒) Remembering Candace Freeland, a Charlotte photographer who captured peace marches in California, conflict in the jungles of Nicaragua and whose work appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post and elsewhere.
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