He’s Keeping Pace on Road to Recovery

Eric Hulst, the best high school distance runner in Orange County history, is recovering from an operation performed last Sunday to remove a tumor from the right side of his brain.

Hulst, 33, is expected to be released from Hoag Hospital Monday or Tuesday and will undergo daily chemotherapy and radiation treatments on an outpatient basis beginning Friday.

“My recovery’s going well,” said Hulst, a track and cross-country star while at Laguna Beach High School from 1973-76. “I’m feeling stronger, and I’m eating three square meals a day, so I’m doing OK.”

Hulst said he started feeling symptoms in early February. He was losing muscle control in his face, and during a bike ride, he lost control of the muscles in his left arm.

Last Saturday, Hulst underwent a Magnetic Resonance Imaging test, which revealed a large tumor next to his right ear. He underwent six hours of surgery Easter morning.

Doctors were able to safely remove 80% of the tumor and hope to manage the rest with radiation and chemotherapy. Hulst is taking medication to relieve pressure on the brain.

Few athletes made as much of a mark on county high school athletics as Hulst did. In competition, his tenacity was unsurpassed. In practice, his training methods were viewed by some as outrageous.

During his senior year, he averaged 130 miles a week and sometimes ran hills or stadium steps under the weight of a 10-pound lead vest.

Hulst began running as a freshman in 1972 as a way to get in shape for tennis, his first love. He began running competitively soon after, winning three consecutive Southern Section 2-A cross-country titles. He also won a 19-and-under world cross-country championship.

But track was his best sport.

Hulst set national class records for the two-mile as a freshman (9 minutes 4 seconds), sophomore (8:50.6) and junior (8:44.9). His career-best of 8:44.6, run during his senior year, is the county record.

He also holds county records at four other distances, ones rarely run in high school competition: the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:19.2), the six-mile (27:58.0), the 10,000 meters (28:55.0) and the marathon (2:27:25).

Hulst went to UC Irvine, joining then-unknown miler Steve Scott. But a knee injury during his sophomore year ended Hulst’s running career.

Hulst resides in Costa Mesa, where he owns a wallpaper business. Although he no longer runs, he had been training for long-distance bicycle competitions.

Hulst said he rode the hospital’s exercise bicycle for 20 minutes Friday morning--”It felt good to work up a sweat,” he said--but mostly, he has spent time calling friends, especially those with whom he had lost touch.

“One big observation I’ve had in all of this is if you had to go through this alone, it would would be terrible,” Hulst said. “I know it’s hard for some people who might worry about what to say to me or what to do, but I’ve had a good time laughing and talking. . . I’m really glad I have friends and family members. I don’t want fears to overwhelm them.”