Despite the fact that Jim's house was within shouting distance of mine, I never got to know him. I always observed him and thought that he was a very interesting person. What I recall was that there were some records posted somewhere in the locker room or somewhere I can't remember on the campus of Chula Vista Junior High School and I looked up one day to read them and saw that Jim Woodard set the school sit-up record at: 1,000. One thousand sit-ups. That is when I decided to practice situps. I made it to one hundred. I later life at one of those gyms, Using a sit-up machine (basically a board with metal wings to support neck and arms and save the back) I managed first to do a thousand and later 2, 3 and then 4 thousand plus. Of course this isn't the same. Somehow this detail of Jim doing a thousand situps in competition in junior high school is something that I'll never forget. Go figure. Alex Duckworth-Ford
Jim did it again in High School. We (I believe it was Dave Truelock, Jim Tsurudome and I) watched in amazement as Jim methodically went through a very patient routine. None of us could come close to a tenth of what he was doing.
Joe Stetser
You're killing me! That's what you always told me until the end! Your brother Joe
Alex Duckworth-Ford (Alex Ford)
Despite the fact that Jim's house was within shouting distance of mine, I never got to know him. I always observed him and thought that he was a very interesting person. What I recall was that there were some records posted somewhere in the locker room or somewhere I can't remember on the campus of Chula Vista Junior High School and I looked up one day to read them and saw that Jim Woodard set the school sit-up record at: 1,000. One thousand sit-ups. That is when I decided to practice situps. I made it to one hundred. I later life at one of those gyms, Using a sit-up machine (basically a board with metal wings to support neck and arms and save the back) I managed first to do a thousand and later 2, 3 and then 4 thousand plus. Of course this isn't the same. Somehow this detail of Jim doing a thousand situps in competition in junior high school is something that I'll never forget. Go figure. Alex Duckworth-Ford
Phil Bryant
Jim did it again in High School. We (I believe it was Dave Truelock, Jim Tsurudome and I) watched in amazement as Jim methodically went through a very patient routine. None of us could come close to a tenth of what he was doing.