Sunday, March 21, 1999
Middletown man takes big steps
Payne furthers cardiac fitness in Mini-Marathon
BY MARK SCHMETZER
Enquirer contributor
Ed “Skeeter” Payne thought he was doing everything right.
Payne regularly jogged around the indoor track at old Middletown High School. He also lifted weights and honed his edge by working out with the Air Force exercise program. Fish and chicken were staples of his diet.
As Middletown athletic director, a job he filled for 15 years, he couldn't have provided a better example for the Middies.
“I felt like I was doing what I should do,” Payne, 63, said. “I found out that's only part of the problem.
“I was one of those people who said it couldn't happen to me. I tried to keep in pretty good shape. My weight wasn't bad. I was trying to do all the right things. I just wasn't keeping the proper diet.”
Payne, who lives with his wife, Sandy, in Trenton, learned in 1986 that he wasn't eating as well as he'd thought. Too much of the fish he was eating was deep-fried. Too much of the chicken still had the skin on it. Too much of it ended up in his heart, which was clogged by cholesterol. He suffered a heart attack in October and underwent single-bypass surgery, which forced him into retirement.
Twelve years later, ongoing problems with getting his heart to maintain a steady beat forced surgeons to give Payne a heart transplant. He underwent surgery July 30. Less than two months later, he was playing golf.
“Things are going good,” Payne said. “They're going really well. I've been very fortunate.”
Payne will take a step, so to speak, at giving back today when he becomes one of about 500 “Red Cap” participants in one of today's Cincinnati Heart Mini-Marathon events. Runners or walkers who have survived cardiovascular disease will wear red caps as they compete in the 5- or 15-kilometer runs or 10-kilometer walk.
The Red Cap division is the latest addition to the ever-growing series of events surrounding the Cincinnati Heart Mini-Marathon, which benefits the American Heart Association's (AHA) medical research and community education programs. The 15-kilometer Mini-Marathon, which still ranks as the main event, starts at 10a.m. at Fifth and Main streets.
Kelly Keeler, the three-time women's champion, and John Sence, last year's men's champion, will be back to defend their 15K titles.
The AHA was expecting about 10,000 people to participate in the day's events, spokeswoman Claudia Harrod said.
Payne, who had his heart transplant operation at University Hospital and has gone through therapy there, will be walking with other University Hospital transplant patients in the 10-kilometer event. Besides working out at University Hospital, he also spends an hour a day, three days a week, at Middletown Regional Hospital.
“I feel much stronger,” he said. “I have much more energy.”
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