Atherton
Paul “Dingball” Atherton: TrailHead, Police Officer, Middle School and High School Cross Country Coach
TrailHeads Remembrances
From Wackus: Ding was one of the first Trailheads. He introduced me to the group 25 years ago when he coached the McDougal Middle School XC team. My daughter ran for Culbreth and Pacers at the time. We would run with the kids on the Carolina North trails together. I remember my first Trailhead run from Wilson Park with Ding, Squonk, Booda, Hugi and Hodag. I was told that the other Trailhead, Goofus, had another engagement. That was the very early days. Ding was a regular back then. He holds the record for the longest joke ever told on the trail, The Fu Bird. Ding was smart, funny and just one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known. He will be missed. He made an impact on my life. He introduced me to this wonderful community. I’m sure he had a positive effect on others as well. The world is a better place because of him.
From Tiny: Very sad to read. Only saw him a few times and my day was always better after one of our run ins. Will definitely be missed.
From Gumbi: Super guy who will be missed. I ran with Ding a lot in my early TrailHead years. The Ding loop was an early favorite route in LD training.
From booda: I’m not sure, but Ding may have been the one that brought the TrailHeads membership count to Squonk’s vision of “critical mass.” If not, I know he was part of the discussion. Ding was a great guy who really made a difference for many middle schoolers, beyond cross country.
From Marmot: Ding was a pillar of the group and embodied the spirit of the TrailHeads in the early years and was always down to help with our races.
From squonk: Ding coached both of my kids in and beyond XC. And he fell on his first CNF trail run, but got up laughing and kept going. His full name was Dingball, of the Fearsome Critters, who was more respected than feared.
From Lynx: Ding was a TH I only got to see once every couple of months or so but anytime he was around we would all be laughing because of him. If there is a record for “Most Near Falls due to a Good Punchline”; that record is Ding’s.
From Ringo: The TH’s found it difficult to believe Ding was a Carrboro police
officer. When he was named Officer of the Month, with his picture on
the wall at Police HQ right up from the Open Eye, we all had to go
over to look at the photo to make sure it was the same Officer
Atherton. A shame he’s gone to heaven before he found his car keys in
Carolina North. 🙁
From Wisp: I didn’t know Ding well outside of the THs, but I remember him fondly. He very clearly cared about others, about the THs, about the community. I recall seeing him out in CNF not just running with us, but alongside younger runners when he was coaching.
Several of my, now grown, “neighborhood kids” have posted about him and how their lives were touched by him when they were in school. I’m not on facebook much, but I was on yesterday and saw no fewer than 5 posts about him, all from folks that wouldn’t be connected in any other way than by Ding. I saw more than a hundred comments on different posts about Ding. He very clearly left a huge mark on this community.
I was touched by many of the memories and comments folks shared.
From Knocker: When I think back to my trailhead days, Ding always comes to mind. His quick wit, always present smile, and true care for all were part of what kept me coming back.
I was fortunate to run into him in 2025 and we picked up right where we left off. Truly a great guy who will he missed.
From WingNut: (Regarding the lost key..) I don’t think he [found it] and it gives me a lot of peace to know it’s still ‘out there’ where I’m sure he will be too!
From Goofus: he was goofy, funny and kind- had a smile that lit up the world- i remember he really liked runningt to the front of the line…laughing … i also remember his pledge to wear a kilt if his girls’ running team won – and they did- and he did- a picture was taken and the local police dept put it up on the wall of perps
From Skrapple: “Don’t stow thrones in grass houses” (or something like that) was a punch line from one of those extra long and vivid jokes Ding told (likely a Hodag original, not sure).
I remember exactly where he delivered the line on lower Worm. That big smile, too. Just positive mojo, always.
I got to hang out with him a bit a few years ago…and while we hadn’t run much together for 10 years or so, like Knocker said, it was so easy to catch up and share stories.
From Sidetrack: He was so incredibly warm and friendly and good for a chuckle. I have lots of memories running with him in the early years and also his completely freaking me out one afternoon as I drove home when I used to live on Davie Rd. I don’t know where he appeared from, but he pulled me over, lights flashing – the whole bit and I think if I remember correctly it was a giant grin on his face as he then wished me a happy birthday (or a belated birthday as I think it was). We both fell into peels of giggles over it. He was great fun to run with and a lover of trivia too. He used to host a trivia night at Armadillo Grill ages ago and had quite the following of trivia lovers that attended.
Though I haven’t seen him in a few years, he’ll definitely be missed and like everyone echoed he was always so easy to pick up a conversation with and share stories.
From Chaser: Ding was a kind person and great company whenever I was with him. He was fun on a trail run and had a great sense of humor. I think he made a police artist’s sketch of his key fob that was lost; I still look around for it when I am in the forest. I have even found a car key that wasn’t his.
I’m sad that I hadn’t seen him lately and will miss him.
From Galoot: I had the pleasure of chatting with him at the locust lot many times when he was coaching his group of runners. We would share silly coaching stories as I was doing the CC Pacers thing at the time. Enjoyed many of my early trying to hang on trail runs while he was bopping along out front. Many a child will retain his spirit every time they go outside.
From Grub: I too had the pleasure of meeting Ding.
The ongoing joke was, where’s Ding? Where’s Ding’s key? He shared the Ninja joke, several times, and he always joined in the chuckle. Glad to have met him, thanks to this community, always bringing people together. He will be missed. RIP Ding!
From Yellow Dawg: I’d known Paul for almost 25 years, through Chapel Hill High’s cross-country program where he coached with Ron Olsen (and Paul Swain?), from his visits to teach and mentor young runners with the Chapel Hil / Carrboro Pacers Running Club, from his work with the University’s 9-1-1 dispatch, his law enforcement stint with Carrboro, and even through his work with Orange County.
I also had the pleasure of running into him on the trails and sharing LONG jokes. He could tell the most hilarious jokes and remain completely deadpan, which made it even funnier. At one point, alone on the airport-side trails with Ding, I began telling him a notoriously long joke (“Big Red’s Comin’ anyone?) that he’d somehow never heard. I started it at the Improv and embellished and elaborated for about four miles on Flying Dagger and Neverland (so, like, 50 minutes, but who’s counting?)… When I finally spewed out the punchline, it stopped Ding in his tracks, and he told me it would be on his joke list at Chapel Hill cross-country camp the following summer…which I rightly took to be the highest of honors…
Kelly and I saw him at Franklin Motors one night only a few months back, and we enjoyed a solid hour laughing with him…
Whooz-Ding? I feel fortunate to have known him, to have run with him, and to have laughed with him…
From KernDog: My daughter Claire wanted me to add that she remembers Coach Ding fondly from both Pacers and CHXC. She is sad at his passing and remembers Coach Ding always had a smile and a joke, and that “he very kindly let me check out his police car when I was little.”
From Bobcat: Sad news. Really hard to fathom. I knew Ding for a long time as many have already said through pacers, and school XC teams. I shared a photo of him to my daughter “Seabiscuit” and she replied ” aww he was the funny bus driver for CHXC”.
A fitting remark.
It has been too long since I last saw him, and got to hear a joke and see his mellow smile.
From Tempest: Ding was lovely. A truly kind human and inspired a lot of young people to get out on the trails.
From Merlin: I didn’t even know Paul as a TrailHead. I didn’t know he ran. We spent a lot of time together when I worked EMS in Carrboro. He grew up in the area and remembered me from the local TV show I starred in as a teen on WRAL in the 80s. A show I was deeply embarrassed by and is not, repeat not, on my resume. Once Paul found out I didn’t want people to know about Sparks, he made sure all my fellow EMTs and medics knew all about it… Talked about it every time he saw me….
He had such a kind spirit. I always looked forward to him coming through the door at the Rescue Squad.
From Freeq: I remember Ding fondly.
Once when we lost a Millstrider, a little race was put on in her memory. Perhaps this year’s LRTL could be dedicated to Ding in some way?
From Willow: Ding was one of the first TrailHeads I met — although I, too, might’ve first met him in the context of Pacers/kids running. He always had a (often very long) joke and a smile, as well as all sorts of trivia facts, and it was lovely to run into him around town.
In the sort of old days, the marathon training gang loved to run the Ding half marathon loop, a mix of roads and trails through Chapel Hill and Carrboro, including CNF and Battle Park. Maybe that would be a fitting non-race event to honor his memory.
From Ram: My favorite memory of Ding was his race report from the Boston Marathon. Near the end of the race he stopped to shake the hand of one of the officers managing the crowd. A bystander took a picture of him and then tracked him down and sent it to him. Ding was so thrilled that someone he didn’t know would do such a thing for him, the picture is still his profile picture on Facebook. Such a great example of who he was and how he affected people around him.
Peace brutha…