STEVE INSKEEP, Host:
Antonio Douglas works as a manager at the Cactus Car Wash in Atlanta. He spoke at StoryCorps with his employer and friend Frank Lynch.
FRANK LYNCH: When I first met Antonio, he was 270 pounds.
ANTONIO DOUGLAS: Yeah. I always have been kind of bad eater. If it didn't move, I ate it; and if it moved too slow, I ate it.
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INSKEEP: Antonio, who's 45 years old, lost some of that weight with the help of surgery and with the help of some teasing from his 70-year-old friend Frank.
LYNCH: One day, I says, look, Antonio, I'd be really embarrassed if an old guy like me could run faster than you can. He was so anxious to get back at me he challenged me to this race. I says, okay, I'll take you up on that. But I tell you what, this race isn't going to be on this car wash lot. What we need to do is we need to go out and rent a small stadium.
DOUGLAS: I had on a tank top that represented NAACP and he had one representing his people - the AARP.
LYNCH: Unfortunately for him, in the first race he was beaten.
DOUGLAS: I had never ran 100 meters in my life. Wasn't no way I was going to beat him.
LYNCH: There was only one person in the stadium that was happier than Antonio, and that was me.
DOUGLAS: Over the years, I think I've learned more from him that any one individual I have met. I don't know where I'd be without him. I just thank God for him.
LYNCH: I think that Antonio Douglas has been one of the important things in my life. Somebody I've been really proud to be associated with and I love him.
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INSKEEP: That's Frank Lynch with his friend and employee Antonio Douglas at StoryCorps in Atlanta. Their conversation will be archived with all StoryCorps interviews at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. And you can get the Podcast at NPR.org.
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INSKEEP: This is NPR News.