Bill Chamblee
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A Shadow of Himself

Bill, the original homeboy, grew up in Anderson County, SC and, except for races and an occasional vacation, has never moved more than fifty miles from his birth site.  Bill’s parents farmed near Starr, SC in Anderson County (see photos of young Bill on his farm tractor), and nicknamed him “Logan.”   Bill graduated from T.L Hanna High in 1966 (see photo).  The school was featured in the movie “Radio” years after Bill matriculated.  Bill weighed 180 pounds when he began a twenty-year career with Daniel Construction Company after high school.   He also married, and at age twenty had a daughter, who is now forty-two and residing in Anderson.  Bill has three grandchildren - ages 21, 18, and 11.  At age forty, Bill had a mid-life crisis, like many of us.  He divorced, quit his job, and enrolled at Clemson University, weighing in at 190 pounds.  Bill worked part-time jobs and graduated in four years with a B.S. in computer science. 

Bill spent the next ten years in a variety of computer hardware support positions, including working for a contractor who supported the post office and for the French firm, Sommer Allibent.  The Sommer Allibent job lasted five years.  The firm provided automotive interior panels for the BMW assembly plant in nearby Greer, SC.  Bill found that he was being released consistently for outsourcing positions overseas in tech support.  Being unwilling to move to Calcutta, wear a turban, and ride a moped, Bill finally hooked up with his current employer, Am Cam Transportation, as an IT specialist.

Bill gained weight during this time, topping out for market at 245 pounds, as seen in the photos showing him in a tux, auditioning for the role of the Shoney’s Big Boy. Realizing that he was taller lying down than standing up, he began to run in the fall of 1983.  Bill’s first Run & See Georgia Grand Prix Series race was in 1998. He and Laurel Lloyd were fixtures, commuting to Run & See Georgia races between 1999 and 2007.  During this time Bill lost weight, reducing his heft to 200 pounds.   Bill acknowledges that he has always had a challenge controlling his weight and has yo-yoed up and down weight-wise over the years.  In 1987 he had reduced his weight to 170, but found it climbing again.  Bill began in earnest to reduce his weight in 2008 with Weight Watchers.  Currently, at age sixty-two, he is a trim 153 pounds.   Bill admits freely he has to fight the urge to eat constantly.

Bill’s favorite race is the Eaton Tar Baby.  Unlike Bob Slowpants, Bill stayed with the race even after they changed the name to Torture Trail.  Since 1989, Bill has made every Tar Baby-Torture Trail 10K with the exception of one year when he had a Clemson final exam the morning of the race and could not attend.   His best 5K time was a 19:34 at Hartwell Dam in 1987.  Bill can still pump out a consistent low twenty-minute time, with his most recent best being 22:48. Bill doesn’t know how many Run & See Georgia races he participated in during 2009, because he is scared to find out what he expended in gas and entry fees.   Bill’s other hobbies include what he describes as “tinkering,” which includes woodworking and counting points.  Bill has found that his weight was unaffected by counting Run & See Georgia points.  However, he has lost weight counting Weight Watchers points!     

Bob, checking out from the back of the pack.  Look for the late February profile on smiling Fiona Williams, March on ironman Curt Malone, and April showers bring trim Joan Wall.     

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