MONMOUTH C Distance running legend Bill Rodgers, the only man to win both the Boston and New York City Marathons four times and a member of the 1976 USA Olympic marathon team, recently paid a visit to Monmouth College. Following the running of the Quad-City Times Bix 7 road race in late July Rodgers, his older brother Charlie and their father Charles Rodgers, Jr. toured the Monmouth campus to see the school which their relatives attended nearly 80 years ago.

The Rodgers family was hosted by Monmouth cross country coach Chris Pio (Monmouth >84) and Director of Annual Gifts Bobbi Swarts (Monmouth >92). The group spent the afternoon touring the campus buildings and grounds. Charles Andrew Rodgers (ex >19) and his brother, William Henry Rodgers (ex >21), both attended Monmouth during the World War I years but Pio only learned of the connection between the family and the College in a 1996 article which appeared in the Quad-City Times newspaper.

AI read a Bix 7 post-race interview with Bill Rodgers which mentioned he had worn his grandfather's Monmouth College football letter sweater in a half-marathon race in 1976 and that the family had a connection to the local area," said Pio. "From there I wrote to his brother Charlie, who manages the Rodgers Running Center store in Boston, asking for some information on the family's ties to the school and the community. Considering my position as coach at Monmouth, my love of running and the fact that Bill Rodgers is one of America's greatest distance runners, my interest in the possible connection was obvious."

Charlie Rodgers responded to Pio's initial inquiry with a letter indicating the brothers' ancestors had settled in Warren County in the 1830s. Through research at the Newberry Library in Chicago and various historical documents, the family has traced its roots to John Roger, who emigrated from Scotland to the United States in 1770. One of his grandchildren, Charles Rodgers (after whom his son and grandson are named), was born in Monmouth and enrolled with the Class of 1919. His younger brother, William (Bill Rodgers' namesake), also enrolled at the College two years later. Due to military service during the war, neither boy actually graduated from Monmouth and the family moved eastward to eventually settle in Connecticut.

However, the family's interest in their roots has brought them back to the Midwest several times and Bill Rodgers' 20-year involvement with the Bix 7 road race has strengthened the local ties. "After receiving Charlie's first letter, I called and arranged a meeting with him while in Boston last April for the Boston Marathon," said Pio of the process leading up to the summer visit. "He had so much information on the school, Warren County and his family's ancestors that it only seemed fitting and courteous to extend an invitation to visit the campus after this year's Bix race."

The brothers accepted Pio's invitation and arranged to make the short drive from Davenport, Iowa to Monmouth after the road race awards ceremony. Swarts met them on campus along with Monmouth cross country runners Frank Schweda (>98) and junior Jamie Nelson. The group toured the grounds and visited many buildings which stood on the campus in their relatives' days at MC. "It was a thrilling day, even for a non-runner," said Swarts of her meeting with a famous celebrity. "It was a pleasure to show them around campus and I was very glad that they decided to come back to Monmouth to celebrate their heritage and history. They already knew much about the college from their family research."

The research has tied one of the world's most celebrated and popular distance runners to Monmouth College and that fact is very exciting to Pio and his runners. "It's great to know that there is a real connection between Bill Rodgers, his family and MC," said Pio, who enters his tenth year as cross country and distance coach. "Being a Monmouth alumnus, a runner and a coach makes this meeting a truly memorable one and I am certain our athletes and alums will be excited to know he and his relatives were on campus this summer. I only hope they get the chance to meet him one day in the future."

For the record Bill Rodgers, who has set American marks at 15K, 20K and 25K during his illustrious running career, finished this year's Bix 7 with a new 50-59 age group mark of 38:10 and has continued to break 50+ age-group records at road races throughout the country. Pio (49th) and Schweda (70th) each finished in the top 100 runners in the 17,000-plus field.