Dec 26, 2015 5 min read

I’ve been to the halls of fame for pro football, baseball and basketball, and all three are impressive venues. They are filled with interesting history, trophies, plaques, medals and busts of those fortunate enough to be enshrined.

There is a spot in downtown Washington that reminds me of those places.

It’s Zenner’s Barber Salon at 322 South Main Street. The shop is closed and the owner is retired. If you walk past the shop, you can peek in the window and see more than 500 trophies, plaques, medals and pictures, courtesy of Don Zenner, a prolific runner in his time.

He was a fixture around the streets of Washington and the county roads, running with a strong gait and determination. His love of running occurred late in life.

“I started at 51 and ran till I was 74 years old,” said Zenner. “I ran competitive racing mostly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, West Virginia and New York.”

Why the late start?

“I was always in shape and for some reason I got out of shape,” he said. “I was raising a family, having children. My dad died in 1978. He had always watched me be a competitive wrestler in high school. I wanted to get back in shape, so I started to walk, then jog, then run. I enjoyed it. In 1981, I entered my first 5-10k race. It was one of over 500 races till I stopped at age 74, when I fell and broke my hip.”

Zenner is a competitive individual and always enjoyed a challenge. That’s what put him into a peculiar situation when he decided to wrestle in the Keystone Games in 1997. He registered for the open division of the 125.5-pound weight class in wrestling, expecting to compete against like-minded and similarly-aged athletes.

Instead, he was staring across at Brent Becker, who recently graduated from Northern Lehigh High School. Zenner wanted to wrestle in the Masters class but he was the only one registered there. So, he went for the Open class and ran into Becker.

The then 65-year-old Zenner proved a point but lost the bout, 12-0. Not even his experience as a wrestler at Washington High School could save him.

“I never won at states. When you’re a competitor, the thing that sticks with you most are the things that you haven’t done, not what you have done,” he said. “I never reached that goal and it ate away at me the rest of my life. That’s why I decided to enter the Keystone Games. I earned two silver medals but never the gold medal.”

Zenner returned to the safer activity of running.

“I’d run six or seven miles a day, at least five days a week,” he said. “Then I would race on the weekend.”

Some of his runs included major races in Pittsburgh and Wheeling.

“I ran three Pittsburgh Marathons and finished all three. I ran in several races in Wheeling (Elby’s Classic) and that’s the 20k. I finished every race I started; give or take, it was 500 or more races at different lengths,” said Zenner with a huge smile.

Most of the medals and trophies in his shop were for first place.

After graduating from Wash High, Zenner could have gone to Pitt, Waynesburg or Lehigh on wrestling scholarships. Instead, he joined the coast guard.

“I got this burned out in wrestling, so I dropped out of Waynesburg and joined the guard for three years active duty. I was on three different coast guard cutters, then five years in reserve.”

At Wash High, Zenner wrestled under the legendary coach Dr. William A. Harris.

“My memories of Doc are so intense,” he said. “He was a fine man, a great coach and tremendous motivator. I’ll always be thankful he was my high school coach.”

And running was part of his training as a wrestler.

“I loved every minute of it. If you don’t love running, you can’t do it,” he said. “It’s exhausting, tiring but its exhilarating. People ask me about winning races and I tell them in order to win a race, you have two choices: if you’re tired, you can get out of that situation by slowing down and you won’t win. Tough it out, and you will win. You have to love the sport.”

Zenner said one his fondest memories came during a 10k race in Pittsburgh.

“I knew I was running well and I’m going up a little grade,” he recalled. “Two young guys passed me as they passed one of them said, ‘We finally got the old guy.’ I didn’t react, just kept on going. I stayed at my own speed towards the finish line and I could see the clock. I could get under 39 minutes so I took off. I always saved a little kick for the end. Patience is a big part of your strategy. I passed the two young guys just before the tape. They couldn’t believe I passed them. After the race, they congratulated me.”

That’s how Zenner got all the medals, trophies and plaques, including notes from the likes of Rocky Bleier, Jerome Bettis, Mike Webster and wrestling great Dan Gable.

At night, the place is lit up and a great sight to see.

Bill DiFabio writes a column for the Observer-Reporter on local sports history.