Author: Mike Wise

Spirit Chaser

In the history of the Olympic Games, only one U.S. athlete has ever won the 10,000-meter race. It was in Tokyo in 1964 when Native American Billy Mills—an orphan who had battled poverty, racism, illness and depression—shocked the world with one of the most unexpected, come-from-behind victories in all of sport. “Running helped me understand that there is no end when we die,” says the now 86-year-old gold medalist and Fair Oaks resident. “There’s a passage to the spiritual world.” Even in this earthly world, one thing is for certain: The legend of Billy Mills will live forever.