I am Bert Belt’s daughter. 20 years after his death I still miss him and think of him often, as I do on this Father’s Day. My dad instilled in me a love of sports. Whether he was participating in them (he loved golf, running, and skiing) or watching them (his favorite team was the Iowa Hawkeyes), my dad valued athletics. I remember that on most Sunday mornings when we were growing up he would go out for a 12-mile run. The funny thing is, I don’t ever remember him running any other day of the week…just that one weekend run. That was sort of how he was. I recall one morning when I was about 10, he announced (after he had been at a party the night before) that he and his friend were going to run the upcoming Chicago Marathon. This was way before running marathons became a popular thing to do. Whether it was pure spontenaity or the influence of certain beverages at the party, it was a little insane. He didn’t have much time to think about a training regimen since it was a matter of days before the race, not weeks or months! [Read more…]