Ames resident Alvin Ravenscroft gives the credit for most of his accomplishments in life to track. Now, the 69-year-old volunteers at track and field meets as a way to return the favor to a sport that has given him so much.

“I like to give back to the sport that changed my life by keeping me in high school and eventually college,” Ravenscroft said. “I stayed in high school in order to keep running. It was something that helped enhance my self-esteem. Also, I was winning and getting attention from articles in the newspaper. I knew that I would never get anything like that again.”

Ravenscroft, who grew up around Detroit, Mich., overcame some obstacles in grade school and high school.

“In school I had a severe stuttering problem,” Ravenscroft said. “I was laughed at by other students. Running helped give me better self-esteem. It also helped me develop a sense of humor, which gave me a positive self-image.”

“I also was a poor student in high school,” Ravenscroft said. “My friends that I ran around with dropped out of high school when they were 16 [years old], and eventually went to work in shops in Detroit. Some of those kids ended up in juvenile detention [reform school].

“I could have easily ended up taking that route if it wasn’t for the fact that I liked to run so much. In high school, I started running cross country in the fall and the mile in the spring, and I found out that I was pretty good. So I stayed in high school in order to keep running.”

Ravenscroft said he found out that life after high school and running would be something different.

“After graduation, I worked for two years at shops in Detroit,” he said. “After that I went to the service for four years [in Korea].”

After returning home, Ravenscroft still had a love for competitive running. “I wanted to get back into running because that was the one thing that I was good at,” Ravenscroft said. “At that time, there were no running clubs; the only place to run was at college. I found a little place called Murray College in Kentucky [now called Murray State University], to get back into running. If it wasn’t for running I would not have gone to college, since I was such a terrible student. There would have been no other reason to go to college.”

While in college, Ravenscroft had his love of running back, but he also found other things fun about college which led to a new interest.

“Once I went to college, I started to like the classes much better,” Ravenscroft said. “I was still running really well in college. I quit running before my junior year mainly to concentrate on my classes. The classes became fun and really interesting.”

Ravenscroft said he graduated from Murray College with a double major in chemistry and biology. He then went to the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he received a master’s degree in plant pathology.

“Running is the reason that kept me in high school, and initially got me to want to go to college,” Ravenscroft said. “It is pretty much the reason that got me a college degree, which changed my life entirely. If it wasn’t for running I probably would be working at some factory in Detroit. It helped make life far more interesting, and [gave me] a few extra dollars in my pocket than I would have had otherwise.”

While getting older, Ravenscroft has seen some medical problems associated with running.

“I had a heart problem that kept me from running, and kept me very inactive for 17 years,” Ravenscroft said. “About the time I moved from California back to Michigan, the heart doctor encouraged me to start running again. From 1974 to 1998, I was training and racing with a heart problem. I found out that I was still good at it. In 1998, I had an operation that took the problem away.” After being away from college running for a long time, the Ames resident of five years still finds running to be a hobby.

“I am still running and training. I still keep very active in races,” Ravenscroft said.

“Next week I will be at the Senior Olympics in Des Moines running in the distance race for people 65—69. I usually win my age division. Running is making me eat right and watch my weight, while helping me stay in shape.”

Ravenscroft manages to be involved in track in any possible way.

“I feel like giving back to the sport that certainly changed my life,” Ravenscroft said. “I work at the four Iowa State track meets that they have during the winter. I worked the girls and boys state track meets in Des Moines, mostly the long jump. I also worked at the Drake Relays for four days.”

In May, when the Iowa Special Olympics were in town, Ravenscroft was there volunteering.

“It feels good to watch the special participants who are willing to work hard competing,” Ravenscroft said. His wife of 16 years, Sue, is an associate professor of accounting at Iowa State. She said she sees her husband’s inspiration firsthand. “He is a very good example to exercise and to do volunteer work. He gets a lot of pleasure [from] running. He gets frustrated when he can’t run well,” Sue said.