Orono, Maine -- That Dan Rearick ran the fastest mile ever by a University of Maine athlete 49 years ago is a matter of record.

That he was a member of the New England cross country championship team three straight autumns, captain his last two falls and first-place finisher in the New England meet his senior season is likewise a matter of record.

That Rearick won the mile at both the Yankee Conference and State Series meets in each of his final two spring seasons only adds to the record.

That's just a brief skimming over what he accomplished on the track, but his teammates, lifelong friends and family talk about what he has meant to them being so much more than his ability to run fast.

There's the quiet leadership he provided in what is often seen as a solitary sport. There's his log cabin on Long Lake in Harrison, Maine, where over the years he has gathered his friends for fun and to run. There's the quiet sense of humor. And, the trombone, another lifelong avocation.

Bill Schroeder, a fellow class of '58 mate, and a record-setting pole vaulter for Maine, says Rearick is "relatively quiet, a good sportsman, with high moral values, just a good person."

Rearick and Schroeder arrived in Orono in the fall of 1954 and though they had never met, recognized that they had seen each other competing in the New Jersey state high school track and field meet. They became best of friends, joining the same fraternity, Phi Eta Kappa.

Cliff Ives, a hurdler in the class of '60 and another longtime friend, says "I used to watch him and was amazed by how efficient a runner he was. He was a great leader by example in his dedication."

Will Spencer, class of '61 and a three-time Yankee Conference champion in the 880-yard run, was a freshman when Rearick was a senior. He watched Rearick intently and got to know him better when Rearick returned to Orono to earn a second engineering degree in 1961.

"He was a leader in the running community," says Spencer, who served as a matchmaker for Rearick and his wife, Nancy, a classmate of Spencer's. The lifelong friendship of the Rearicks, Schroeder, Ives, Spencer and others continued under the leadership of Rearick.

Rearick calls the place in Harrison "Champion Camp" and over the years has hosted many gatherings of track guys.

"He was the coordinator," says Spencer. "It was very social. Coach [Ed] Styrna would be there."

And, they'd go out for runs, notes Ives. "Danny would say 'this one's a character builder'."

Rearick's character was tested in setting of the UMaine mile record of 4:13.9 in the 1958 IC4A meet, his final race for Maine.

"His best race was his last race," notes Schroeder. The field included Ron Delany of Villanova, one of the early 4-minute milers and 1956 Olympic gold medalist for Ireland in the 1,500-meter race. Rearick finished fourth in a world-class IC4A field.

It wasn't Rearick's last last race by any means. While serving in the Air Force from 1962 through '70, he added the steeplechase and marathon to his repertoire and traveled with the interservice team to France in 1969.

The 100th Boston Marathon, in 1996, is a most special memory for Rearick, then 60. He had not run a marathon in many years and had failed to qualify by less than a minute in the Bay State in Lowell, Mass. So, in another test of character, against all advice, he ran two weeks later in the Cape Cod Marathon and qualified for Boston.

In addition to civil and mechanical engineering degrees from UMaine, Rearick earned a masters in Physiology of Exercise from Springfield College in 1973. The Rearicks then moved to Canada, where Dan was in charge of promoting fitness and healthy living for the Province of New Brunswick for many years. They have two children and three grandchildren.
 

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