PEACE RACE Tom Frederick aggressively deals with cards handed him

Last year, the Austintown resident was runner-up in the 65-69 age division.
By JOHN KOVACH
VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF
AUSTINTOWN -- Tom Frederick was too old to play for the Ursuline High football team in 1952, after serving in the Marine Corps for one year and fighting in the Korean War.
But the Austintown resident, now 67, isn't too old to become a standout distance runner and triathlon and biathlon competitor, and to prepare for his 19th straight Peace Race on Sunday.
"After completing 10th grade in 1951, I dropped out of school and enlisted in the Marine Corps, and they sent me to Korea for 15 months," said Frederick, who was 17 at the time.
"I came back hoping that I could play my senior year of football at Ursuline, but I just turned 20 years old and [Coach] Tom Carey told me I was too old. I always wanted to play football for Ursuline."
Compensation: But Frederick, who had played football as a freshman and sophomore at Ursuline under Carey and aide Nick Johnson, got additional benefits from the Marine Corps besides helping his country, to help compensate for his lost senior year of football.
Not only did he complete his junior year while in the Marines before graduating from Ursuline in 1955, he also went on to attend Youngstown State for four years on the G.I. bill. He earned a degree in business in 1958 and embarked on a career in computers.
But the running phase of his life didn't come until 19 years later at 43, when he said he saw himself on home movies.
"[I was] overweight -- the same old story," recalled Frederick. "You look at yourself and you wonder [why]. I saw myself in action in home movies, and I said, 'Is that me?' "
So, he decided to try running, and has been doing it for 24 years.
Started slowly: "I started running in Austintown Township Park. I'd run about 100 yards, stop, walk 100 yards. I kept adding to it daily, then I was up to a mile, a couple miles, 5 miles and then started to get into some races," he said.
"I didn't start competitive racing until my first Peace Race in 1981, and then I started the longer distances and eventually got into marathons, triathlons, biathlons ... you name it."
Last year, Frederick was runner-up in the Peace Race's 65-69 age division in 54 minutes, 20 seconds over the 10K course, good for 372nd place out of 561 finishers overall.
"My best [Peace Race] time was 48:30, probably in 1992," said Frederick, who retired from General Motors seven years ago.
Triathlons: Of late, Frederick has been concentrating on triathlons. He competed in four events -- Cleveland, Morraine State Park, Mogadore State Park and Oil City -- and won three of them in his age class.
Frederick's objective in Sunday's Peace Race is to surpass last year's time.
"I think I can knock off two minutes from my time and maybe finish second again," said Frederick, who also is looking forward to performing before his family.
He and wife, Dorothea, have three sons -- Brian, Greg and Jeffrey -- and five grandsons.
"There is always somebody there," he said of the family cheering section.
The 10K (6.2-mile) race will begin at 10:15 a.m. on East Indianola Avenue near Cleveland Elementary School, and proceed through Mill Creek Park to the finish line downtown. The 2-mile event will begin at 9:30 a.m. downtown, where it also will end.