Running in a flannel shirt and overalls

Saturday, thousands of runners will gather at the starting line for the 28th annual Tulsa Run. But out of all those people, DR Cromer stands out from the crowds. He's the only person in the Tulsa

Thursday, October 27th 2005, 1:00 pm

By: News On 6

Saturday, thousands of runners will gather at the starting line for the 28th annual Tulsa Run. But out of all those people, DR Cromer stands out from the crowds. He's the only person in the Tulsa Run, maybe the only person "anywhere", to run in a flannel shirt and overalls.

News on 6 reporter Steve Berg caught up with him to ask about his unparraleled apparel.

Did he forget something? Is he running for help? Why would anyone be running in a baggy shirt and overalls?

Well for starters, they weren't always that baggy. "January 1st of 2002, I got on the scale and weighed 260 pounds and I decided that was a little bit too much." DR Cromer started out walking and then a friend who was a runner convinced him to enter his first race a few months later, a 3-miler.

"1,500 people in there and I started all the way in the back, because I didn't want to get in anyone's way, because I didn't really know what was going on. I ended up passing 500 of them." At age 60, without every having done any long-distance running in his life, DR was sold on the sport. Not the running so much as the camraderie. "I didn't realize the runners talked so much during the race, and of course I took quite a bit of kidding about my overalls."

Yes the overalls, why in the world would anyone run in overalls. "They'll come up to you after and ask you if you're crazy or insane for wearing them, especially on hot days in August."

DR says that's what he wore when he worked in the garden, so he figured he could wear them running too. "A lot of people don't understand how I can run in them but they don't bind or anything; they're just as comfortable as shorts are."

He even tried running at first in his steel-toed work boots, but he switched to regular running shoes, so he's not completely crazy. Along the way he lost 70 pounds and gained new friends. But where clothing is concerned, he's on the road less travelled.

This will be DR's fourth Tulsa Run. He's run more than 100 races over the past 4 years.