Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Don Clary an haife shi ne a Anchorage, Alaska, kuma ya sauke karatu daga Makarantar Sakandaren East Anchorage a shekarar 1975. Clary ya sami nasararsa ta farko a matsayin matashi (ƙasa da shekaru 20) a gasar zakarun duniya ta 1975 IAAF
inda inda ya kammala a matsayi na biyar ya dauki 'yan wasan Amurka zuwa lakabi na tawagar, tare da Bobby Thomas, Roy Kissin, da Ralph Serna. Ya ci gaba da halartar Jami'ar Oregon kuma ya gudu don ƙungiyar kwalejin Oregon Ducks. A gasar zakarun kasa ta maza ta NCAA Division I a shekarar 1978 ya kasance na bakwai kuma ya kasance na biyu a cikin rukunin rukuni tare da abokin karatun Alberto Salazar. Ya gudu a tseren tseren mita 3000 a gasar zakarun Amurka ta 1978 kuma ya kai na bakwai. Ya lashe lambar yabo ta farko a wannan shekarar, duk da haka, yana yin hakan a cikin sa'a daya.