pThis is the story of John Hurd, a boy who was so small that he was denied entry to the first grade in his local school because they doubted his mother and his birth certificate. He had to ride a bus to the outlying county school to be accepted for his first year.ppIn high school he missed out on athletics, because of his diminutive size. In ROTC class, his uniform pants had an 8 inch hem and his belt covered half of the shirt pockets. By graduation he had reached the height of 5 feet 6 12 inches and weighed 124 pounds.ppAt the age of 60 he learned about the National Senior Games Association, also known as Senior Olympics, and they had five year age brackets for Olympic types of athletic competitions for men and women ages 55 and up. They later began accepting members beginning at age 50.ppSo John began a self-directed program of training in the streets, and at 61 began a hobby of running up and down the oval track as a sprinter. As he gradually progressed he continued training year-ro