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Alphonzo Jackson surrounded by his fans at Lakeview Elementary School. He's Got Legs Tales of Oakland's Olympic torchbearer By Edmund Moy He's a street sage. He's a running guru. He's a father. He's a grandfather. But most notably, Alphonzo Jackson is a self-made man. In his world, the best education you can buy is life experience. Or as he puts it, "The best lessons are the ones you pay for -- and I don't mean with money." For Jackson, school's always in session at Oakland's Lake Merritt. Jackson went for a 30-minute jog around the lake in 1976 as impetus to quit smoking and stay in shape. He hasn't stopped running since. 26 years later he calls Lake Merritt his office. The lake is his source of wisdom and energy. It's where he works with many of his private personal training clients. Other runners call Jackson "Speedy" or "Mr. Man" because, at age 56, he can still beat just about everyone around the lake. His time around is now a blistering 14 minutes and 52 seconds. "Some people are born with a great voice. I was born with great legs," he explains. "I was born to run. That was God's gift to me and I love it." And Jackson has found a way to put his gift to good use. "He's really a great inspiration," Lake Merritt runner Betsy Barsamian-Teman says. "At races, he'll come out and urge you on." Last Friday, Jackson set out to inspire the entire Oakland community. He participated as the Olympic torchbearer for the Oakland leg of the 65-day, 13,500-mile Salt Lake 2002 Winter Games torch relay. Fittingly, he ran carrying the Olympic flame along Grand Avenue next to Lake Merritt; an honor he earned by serving as head coach for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training East Bay Run program. Jackson, together with partner Lisa Felder, has coached the East Bay Run team for the past four years, guiding an estimated 1200 marathon runners across finish lines around the world and fund-raising in excess of $3.5 million for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It's the pair's hard work, compassion, and dedication to making TNT's East Bay Run program such a success that inspired participant Cindy Rinker to nominate Jackson as an Olympic torchbearer. "He's just done so much for not only me, but the whole team and the community," Rinker says. "I just felt he was one person that deserved [the honor]." An honor Jackson never dreamed of receiving before 1976. The oldest of eight children, Jackson has always been a gifted athlete. Growing up in Watts, he played competitive basketball and football for Compton High School, but it was cross-country and track that sparked the competitive flame in his heart. His high school track coach groomed him into a top quarter-miler. He earned a track scholarship to the University of Arizona, but personal issues forced him to drop out of school and give up his track scholarship. By age 30, he'd been smoking for about five years. Though he played basketball to stay in shape at the time, he remembers his girlfriend's sister warning him that smoking defeated the purpose of exercise. It took more than words to change Jackson's outlook. "I went downstairs to the get the mail when the phone rang," he recalls. "I ran up three flights of stairs and my heart was beating so fast I almost went into cardiac arrest." The shock to Jackson's heart was a wake-up call. That's when he decided to quit smoking and start running. It was that run around Lake Merritt that first rekindled Jackson's competitive flame and gave him new life. His face became a familiar sight around the lake. He started entering local races and winning. He also found it natural to offer advice to other runners, who had started calling him "Coach Fonz." By the early '90s, Jackson had earned his coaching certification and worked as the varsity sprints and distances coach at San Leandro High School. And in 1996, Lake Merritt again proved to be magical for him. While on a jog around the lake with a private client, Jackson ran into racing competitor and TNT head coach April Powers and a group of training TNT runners. A year later, Powers hired him as the East Bay Run team's assistant coach, a decision she doesn't regret. "He is the perfect leader, motivator, and teacher for Team in Training," she says. "We all love him." Longtime friend and training partner Mark Watson remembers Jackson's early days around the lake. "He was fast. People were always trying to catch him," he recalls. "I was one of them." Watson eventually caught up with Jackson and they began long-distance running together. Jackson went out too fast and failed to finish his first two attempts at completing the San Francisco Marathon, but in 1979 he learned his lesson and finished his third attempt, the Golden Gate Marathon. "You never know what's going to happen over 26.2 miles. The marathon is about surpassing your physical limitations," Jackson says. "It gets down to your mental toughness; what you' re really made of. It's mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter." For additional information about the Team in Training program call 415.625.1100 or 408.271.2873 or visit the website at www.teamintraining.com. [ East Bay | Metroactive | Archives ]