When the Drake Relays begin the last full weekend of April 2020, it will mark NINE consecutive decades, not years, DECADES, that Bill Keck has competed in or officiated at, a Track and Field meet in Drake Stadium.
He ran a leg on the Hubbell Elementary School Shuttle Relay at the 1949 and 1950 Drake Relays.
He led off the Des Moines Roosevelt Junior High Shuttle Relay that finished 5th at the 1951 Drake Relays.
In 1954, 55 and 56 he ran on a total of 4 different Roosevelt relays that earned Drake Relays medals. In 1955 he won 2 state meet gold medals running on the Roughriders winning Mile and Mile Medley relays.
In 1958, 59 and 60, while competing for Cornell College, he won a total of 4 Drake Relays medals including 2 gold in the Iowa College Mile Relay and 1 gold in the Iowa College 880-yard relay.
In 1964, at the urging of long time Relays Official Gus Rump, he started officiating at both the Drake Relays and the Iowa High School State Meet.
He has missed a few State meets for family commitments over the years, but 2019 marked his 56th consecutive year officiating at the Drake Relays, currently making him the longest tenured Drake Relays official.
Bill started out on the timing crew, at both Drake and State, but with the advancement of technology he has since moved on to be a Clerk at both meets. He has been on the Drake Relays Committee for nearly 40 years. He is a Relays Champions Club member; helping to ensure that generations will celebrate America’s Athletic Classic for years to come; and the family business, Keck Parking, provides round the clock transportation for elite athletes during Relays week.
Bill and Barbara, his bride of 60 years, are the proud parents of Joan, Cindy and Dave. They have been blessed with 12 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren, with number 8 joining the family in March.