12 YEARS OF ALS NO BIG DEAL FOR MAN WHO DISLIKED WALKING AND CHIT-CHAT

CLEVELAND: Treg Charlton is a no-nonsense guy, so doctors at the KU Med Center weren’t surprised by his reaction to the grim diagnosis handed down on March 3, 2010: “What do I have to do to live one day longer than Barry Winovich?”  While the 12 year mark established by his close friend seemed daunting at times, Charlton insists his rival enjoyed the added advantage of not competing during the Covid era.

“I’m not implying he was soft. No matter how metro his wife dressed him, underneath was a brutish, hairy Serbian. But remember, he was also an unrepentant Chatty-Cathy. He couldn’t endure the first 15-minutes of a lockdown. He was a 1-man Super-Spreader. Whereas, the whole ‘worldwide pandemic–thing’ really played right into my wheelhouse.”