Brad House’s chariot of fire carried him through a tough childhood and a late challenge in his signature race on the high school track.
Despite the rough road, the Elyria Catholic runner persevered and reached the ultimate prize: the 1978 Class AA state title in the 880-yard run.
House will be enshrined in the Elyria Sports Hall of Fame’s 37th class Saturday at Lorain County Community College’s Spitzer Center along with Peggy Fortune Yetman, Jack Marsh, Suzanne Camp, Jerry Gilbert and the Elyria Catholic state champion cross country teams of 1977 and ’78.
“This is a lifelong dream come true,” said House, who was inducted as a member of EC’s 1974 cross country state champion team. “After this weekend with two inductions I will be enshrined a total of three times. Again, I am humbled by the honor.”
House was the first individual state champ in school history, but it didn’t come easy. He withstood the rally of Benedictine’s Douglas Winston and Lawrence Stanton at Ohio State to win the big prize. House clocked one minute, 56.3 seconds to defeat Winston (1:56.8) and Stanton (1:57.1).
“It seemed like 110 degrees on the track,” said House. “I pumped through the last two turns but kept feeling tight. I came out of the (final) turn and saw Stanton and Winston come alongside of me and begin pulling away. There was a brief moment where I gave up. I remember the thought of losing trying to find a home in my head.”
House ran a 1:59 in his first dual meet of the season and didn’t lose an 880 all year. In the end, he proved resilient and neither Stanton nor Winston could bring down House.
“Everything went silent,” said House. “In what seemed like minutes, all of the circles, half-circles and quarter-circles that I had drawn raced through my head. I had not programmed myself to lose. In a split-second, my entire being rejected the pain. A primal scream roared in my heart. With fresh legs and unstoppable drive, I regained the lead and won the race convincingly.
“I remember screaming for joy at the finish line.”
Football coach Jim Rattay also served as EC’s track coach during that era. Former track coach Dick Elsasser occasionally helped out as a volunteer and coached House through several workouts in the week leading up to the state meet.
“We talked about race strategy and goal splits,” said Elsasser, “but you might as well not talk to him. Brad was worried about getting boxed in. His attitude was, ‘I’m going to lead off with a 53-second quarter and then just try to hang on.’ He ran the sectional, district and the state meets identical. He just went out lights out in the first 440 and just gutted it out and hung on. His splits were always ridiculous.”
House’s dad left home when he was very young, and his eighth-grade year was especially challenging. After 10 years of a troubled marriage, his mother and stepfather went through a bitter divorce.
“I remember going up to Clearview High and sneaking over the fence to run on the track,” said House. “Running seemed to take me to another place. The harder I ran and pushed through the pain, the easier it became to push through the pain at home.”
House kept his focus despite the divorce.
“At the CYO championships I ran many events and set a new mark in the half-mile of 2:17 with cutoff denim shorts and high-top tennis shoes on a cinder track,” said House. “On the track, I learned a lesson that would serve me throughout my life: that if I worked hard I could win. God put me in a place where I could feel a sense of accomplishment of being on top when I needed it most.”
Longtime EC coach Lou Rotunda attended House’s eighth-grade graduation and encouraged him to attend Elyria Catholic and run cross country under Elsasser and Tom Mahl.
“We figured we could develop him and build on him,” Elsasser said. “We knew he was going to be a stud, and he was. He was just a dedicated and talented kid, and a go-getter.”
EC won a state cross country title in House’s freshman year in the fall of 1974, then took another his senior year in 1977.
“That team (in 1974) and the bonds that we had and especially the common goal to repeat a state championship became my driving focus,” said House. “My mom (Alice) worked long hours through those years, usually from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. or later. I had a lot of freedom, but running kept me grounded.”
House didn’t have a father at home after the divorce, but several people stepped up to fill the void: Ercile Eaton, a neighbor from Elyria, and Tom Webb and Gordy Rick, who were the dads of two of his teammates.
“All of these folks spent time with me and went out of their way to invest in a kid who never seemed to know when to go home, and I am thankful,” said House.
House didn’t compete in college. He attended LCCC, Ohio University and Ohio State before getting married and finding a job. He moved through the ranks and is a regional commercial sales manager for Gordon Food Services in the Akron, Youngstown and Erie markets.
“I found that career to be as exciting and rewarding for me as running had been,” said House. “Many of the same lessons I learned as a high school runner pushed me to succeed in the sales world. I worked longer hours, practiced my craft and rose through the company.”
House, 48, and his wife, Linda, live in Stow and have been married for 25 years. They have three sons: JB, 22, Brandon, 19, and Spencer, 17.
Contact Paul Heyse at 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. 

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