It had been two decades since John Prichard last competed in the Butler Road Race.

The former Butler resident, now living in Tampa, Fla., saw reason to come back for last Saturday's event.

Prichard, 73, plans to travel to Portland, Ore., in October to take part in a half-marathon.

“I'll be walking in Portland. My knees are bad and that's the best I can do,” said Prichard. “I still have a lot of friends in Butler and make it back about two or three times every year. I figured the road race would take the place of training for a day. It's the reason I decided to come back last week.”

Prichard's knees held out longer than he expected.

“I planned to run the first 100 yards, figured my knees would start to hurt and would walk after that,” he said, “but I got to the turnaround point and they were still OK. Except for a couple of stretches on the way back, I ran the whole way.”

Prichard grew up in Virginia and did not pick up running competitively until joining the cross-country team at Bridgewater College, located in the Shenandoah Valley.

“A friend of mine spoke glowingly about how much fun it was,” said Prichard. “I ran in some meets, but wasn't very good. I stayed with it because running was something to do, a way for me to stay in shape.”

Prichard served in the U.S. Army in the early 1970s and got married in June 1973.

“My wife, Anna Marie, was from Forest Hills, near Pittsburgh,” he said. “She said to me, 'I love you and want to be with you, but I'm not leaving western Pennsylvania.'”

It worked out for the Prichards as John was hired as a social studies teacher at Butler Junior High School in 1973. The couple moved to Butler from Allison Park two years later.

John was present at the first Butler Road Race in 1976.

“It was a 10K back then and I did not compete, but I knew some of the runners and went to the courthouse that day to watch.”

Prichard first entered himself in the event in 1979. He estimates he ran in the road race five or six times, the last coming in 2002.

He coached youth soccer in Butler when his son, Bill, started playing. The former also served on the board of directors of the Butler Area Soccer Association.

John Prichard is a former member of American Legion Post 117 in Butler, serving as adjutant 2006-12. He was Commander of Butler County American Legion 2007-09.

He spent the last 30 years (1976-2006) of his full-time teaching career at Butler Intermediate High School. He continued serving as a substitute until 2013, the same year his wife died.

“I moved to Arizona in 2016 and then to Tampa in 2019,” said Prichard. “Hopefully, this is my last stop.

“I try to walk every day in Florida, usually in the mornings when it's cool.”

Over the years, Prichard competed in many running events, including four marathons, two coming in Pittsburgh in 1987 and 1989.

“The Super Bowl is exciting, so is Game 7 of the World Series,” said Prichard. “But the start of a marathon, when you have so many people going off at once, that's a very exciting moment. I guess I'm getting some crazy ideas in my old age, but I want to experience that feeling one more time.”

Prichard hopes to get that adrenaline rush in Portland this fall.

“I'd say it's 50/50 this will be the last race I enter.”

The trips back to Butler, however, should remain on his schedule.

“Butler's a great place to raise a family,” he said. “Through teaching and the American Legion, I've met a lot of great people ... literally thousands.”'