By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: April 3, 2008

One cold winter evening after high school basketball practice, David Pollok, who now lives in Pratts, set out for his typical run home. Pollok had forgotten to wear a hat and the chilly wind whipped against his ears until the tips were burned with frostbite.

Running four miles home every day after practice – for basketball, football or track, depending on the season – wasn’t glamorous, but it helped make Pollok into who he is today. 

“I wasn’t pampered, not like kids today. But I think that was good for me. If I wanted something I knew there was a way to do it,” he recalled of his childhood growing up in Michigan.

“At my high school, we didn’t have a track team, so me and some boys went to the superintendent and said running is the key to all sports,” he said.
Once Pollok was able to get a teacher on board to drive the boys to meets, the superintendent gave the green light and his high school’s inaugural track team was born.

Even before he entered high school, Pollok found himself running constantly, he recalls. “I was always running, either chasing cattle or running from my brothers,” he told The Eagle.

His passion for running continued past high school, participating in several 10-kilometer and half-marathon races and most recently the past two Tri-County Track meets. This past fall, at the age of 78, he competed in the 50-meter, 400-meter and one-mile races. The longtime runner planned to participate in even more of the meet’s events but due to pulling a muscle last minute his race list was cut short, he said.

Although Pollok does not run often anymore now that he has gotten older, to him, running has always been about having fun and being healthy.
“I ran cause I wanted to. Sports now, I think they push them too hard,” he said.

The annual Tri-County Track Meet is just one of the area events Pollok has enjoyed since he first moved to Pratts with his wife, Diane Pollok, 13 years ago.
After regular trips to the area to visit two of their children who live nearby, the Polloks decided to pack their bags and move down South. The transition went smoothly since Pollok had already retired from his job of 35 years at General Motors’ Oldsmobile plant near Lansing, Mich. years before.

“They went from manual labor to automation and started having more layoffs, I thought it was a good time to get out,” the Michigan native said of his former job.

Looking back, Pollok recalls the factory as a “good place to work” but at first, he wasn’t too happy about heading in each day, he said.
“At the time farmers thought [factory workers] were no good…they thought they spent all their money, they partied,” he said. “I hated to have to go to the plant but that’s where the money was.”

Pollok needed the money to support his family, which eventually included three children with his first wife. Most of his family continues to live in Michigan, including his current wife Diane’s side of the family. Together the couple has a total of 20 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Madison County has proved to be a good fit for the former Michigan resident, who enjoys volunteering in his spare time.

“Most people [here] help others…there’s lots of dinners and fund-raisers that people attend to help keep [local groups] functioning,” he said.

Since moving to the area, Pollok started volunteering with Madison Emergency Services Association (MESA) and at the Madison Senior Center, assisting with the meal delivery program.

“You get just as much out of it as they do,” Pollok said of helping others. “It’s a good feeling helping someone do something they can’t do for themselves.”