Member Spotlight on Merrill James  “Jim” Effinger Jr 

Written by Lou Slaces, running reporter.

            If you have ever made it to the finish line of a run or walk here in Evansville, then you have already met “Jim” Effinger.  One of a family of 5 from the “Memorial Tradition”, Jim pronounces himself  to be one of the “Old Timers” – that most faithful group of race officials in our club who keep the high school meets running and the club financially solvent by working the finish line and producing the race results at most of our local races.  Jim’s initiation into the track world came in high school where his coach thought he might make it in the shot put!  Jim describes that venture as “short lived”, but the exposure launched him into a career as manager for many of the sports teams at Memorial, and ultimately into umpiring for high school baseball games.  That’s where you will find him when he’s not working at Anchor Industries or volunteering for the United Way, or bowling in more than one league at a time.

            Jim started with the club about 10-12 years ago.  Some years after having received his business degree from USI in 1977, Jim’s work at Faultless in their computer department moved him to the graveyard shift -- getting done early in the a.m..  At the end of the shift, he would stop for breakfast at McDonald’s on Fares Avenue on his way home.  There he noticed a group of “regulars” who drank coffee, collectively worked a cross word puzzle, and continually badgered manager Nancy Hughes into giving them complimentary refills !  Jim – being a crossword fan himself and a big fan of anything free—soon joined in the group.  When one of the group left a pair of gloves behind at the restaurant one day, Jim asked Nancy who they belonged to.  Jim decided to return them to their owner-- one Ray Rayl.  When Jim brought the gloves to him at his office, Ray commented to Jim that he sure needed some help timing races, and that since it looked like Jim’s afternoons were free, he was “hereby Drafted” .  Ray not being an easy one to say “no” to, Jim arrived at the next cross country meet as “drafted” and has been a major part of our club ever since.  He will probably continue indefinitely into the future unless he is able to hit one of the two main goals in his life – umpiring in the “Bigs”, or spending his winters bowling in Vegas. 

Jim’s Favorite short Joke:  A Car Battery walks into a bar.  The bartender says: “ I guess I’ll serve you, but don’t start anything !” 

Jim’s Tip for other runners:  Keep your race number on your front, the novice runners in the back of the starting pack, and would some race director somewhere please hand out a T-shirt that has a pocket in the front !  

            So old Lou says, next time you members stagger across the line at one of our races, try to gurgle a “Hi Jim and Thanks”  before you plunge headfirst into the Gatorade bucket.  Jim’s been your friend for a long time.

Just a Note from Old Lou about the return of the Member Spotlight.  

            Let’s face it.  If you are a member of this club, most of your friends who are not members already consider you a running or walking “nut”.  This sad stereotyping means that whenever you come to a social gathering, people move to the other side of room and assiduously avoid you for fear that you will begin talking about your training regimen, some blackened toenail treatment, or the particular muscle group that is aching on this particular day from such and such a workout.  So if you are like old Lou, you hardly get to talk about anything to anyone anywhere anymore.  That is why the Member Spotlight is important.  We are among the few who are genuinely interested in how you got started in this sport, where you are running or walking, what tips you have for us.  If you have an interesting story about how you got started, contact Chad Hartman or Bill Hussmann at 867-6974.  They will put you in touch with Old Lou so we can get this story into the Spotlight.  We will try to add one per month, so if you don’t volunteer, we may draft you.  So next time when you are out running and you hear someone calling from behind “Slow down, I want to talk to you”, it’ll just be Old Lou trying to line up our next story.