AUBURN #- The third time is supposed to be the charm. Not for Francis Pettigrass.

For four straight years Pettigrass has been competing as a runner in the Empire State Senior Games. For the first three years it seemed there was almost always something working against him.

“The first year I went my sons told me I should work out and stretch a lot,” Pettigrass said. “I didn't take them seriously. Even being a senior I didn't think that the senior games were going to be that serious. As soon as my first event started I pulled a muscle and that was it for me.”

Determined to do better, Pettigrass went back a second year but admits he still didn't take the games as seriously as he should have.

“It was my third year that I got in to pretty good shape,” Pettigrass said. “I was really determined. I went to the high school track and I have a bike here at home that I'd ride when I wasn't running. I really thought this was the year I'm going to do well. But in Cortland they had the worst storm they've probably had in 50 years. The electricity went out and they canceled all my events.”

Between last year's cancellation and this year's games Pettigrass began to have knee troubles and thought it might be the end of the games for him.

“I have to thank my wife, Norma,” Pettigrass said. “She really pushed me and made me go to rehab and physical therapy. My sons Nick and Mark came to see me and really helped me to get in shape. I really thought that I was done, but I was surprised that I felt in good shape and that I was ready to compete again.”

It was a good thing, too, because 2006 was finally Pettigrass's year.

The 76-year-old, known widely as “Cheech,” brought home gold medals in both the 400- and 1,500-meter runs, as well as a surprise bronze in the long jump.

“I felt really good to win those medals,” said Pettigrass, who has been a dedicated runner for 35 years.“I worked a lot to get in shape for the running this year. The long jump I wasn't even entered in, but I had some extra time so I decided to give it a try. I jumped two or three times and in the end I took home a bronze. I was really surprised by that.

“I always felt I could run pretty well and so I kept after it so to speak. I found that as I got older I could still do it.”

In all those years, Pettigrass has been an active competitor in everything from the senior games to the Downtown Mile.

“Most races around here I've been a part of at one time or another,” Pettigrass said. “I like to compete. It is nice to find that I can still win. But I've always liked to compete whether I won or not.”

But there is something more Pettigrass has found at the games than good competition and success.

“You meet an awful lot of nice people,” he said. “And they come back every year and you get to see them again. There are some people there that are 80, 85. This year there was even a woman that was in her 90s, and she was an excellent runner. For me that is the key - the great people.”

That's what'll bring him back in 2007.

“I'll be there,” he said. “Next year I'd really like to enter the 100. It is a little shorter race but I'd like to try it. My sons are saying I should enter the javelin or something like that, but we'll see. I'm just going to try to keep up my energy and do what I want and see how it goes.”