Competitor - August 2017

STARTING LINES 11

BUZZ

LIFELONG RUN LOVE...

These four people have a literal interpretation of what that means.

BY KEVIN GEMMELL

If you’ve been feeling like a whippersnapper lately, it’s with good reason.

A couple of runners from the Greatest Generation—and two more Baby

Boomers—have been crushing it the last few months with one story after

another that has captured the running zeitgeist.

On the cover of last month’s Competitor, we brought you

94-year-old Harriette Thompson—the oldest woman

to complete a half marathon—and marathon two years

earlier. But Thompson isn’t the only senior making news.

On July 4, 86-year-old

Bill Thorn ran in his 48th

Peachtree 10K in Atlanta.

He’s the only person to

run in every single Peachtree—the world’s largest

race of any distance with more than 60,

participants.

“My goal is to reach 50,” Thorn told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution

after completing the 10K in 88 minutes. “I’ll be 87 in September, so you know

I’m closing out so to speak. Really in order to run 50 of them, I have to do them

one at a time. I got to take care of business with this one fi rst and then we’ll go

to the next.”

Pam Chapman Markle, 61, is another head-turner

with her second appearance at Badwater 135 this

summer. She set a race record last year—capping the

brutal 100-mile trek in California from Death Valley

to Mount Whitney in 41 hours, 2 minutes and 4 sec-

onds. “You just feel wonderful and proud of yourself

for accomplishing something that’s very hard to

accomplish,” she says.

Finally, there’s the pup of the group—55-year-old

Steve Spence. One of America’s strongest distance

runners in the 80s and 90s, Spence beat the 5-minute

mark in the mile for the 42nd-consecutive year when

he posted a 4:55.7 at North Hagerstown High School in

Maryland at the end of June.

Over the hill is simply a place to run for these four.

15. Rock ’n‘ Roll Philadelphia
    Half Marathon, with 12,


16. Disney Wine & Dine
    Half Marathon


17. Disneyland Half Marathon


18. Pittsburgh Half Marathon


19. Miami Half Marathon


20. Rock ’n‘ Roll Washington DC
    (formerly USA) Half Marathon


21. Rock ’n‘ Roll San Diego
    Half Marathon


22. Disney Princess Half Marathon


23. Rock ’n‘ Roll Nashville
    (formerly Country Music)
    Half Marathon


24. Star Wars Half Marathon—
    The Dark Side


25. New York City Half Marathon


26. Walt Disney World
    Half Marathon


27. Rock ’n‘ Roll Las Vegas
    Half Marathon


28. 500 Festival Mini-Marathon


29. Brooklyn Half, with 27,

On the cover of last month’s

94-year-old Harriette Thompson

to complete a half marathon—and marathon two years

earlier. But Thompson isn’t the only senior making news.

Pam Chapman Markle, 61

with her second appearance at Badwater 135 this

summer. She set a race record last year—capping the

brutal 100-mile trek in California from Death Valley

to Mount Whitney in 41 hours, 2 minutes and 4 sec-

onds. “You just feel wonderful and proud of yourself

1.9 million runners

fi nished a record 2 , 800

half marathons in 2016

#3#

PHOTOS: TOP RIGHT BY RYAN BETHKE/CGI, THORN BY BILL THRASHER, SPENCE BY PHOTORUN.NET

HALF-MARATHON

COUNTDOWN

Break out your bucket list! Of

the 31 half marathons last year

with more than 10,000 runners,

these are the top 15, according

to Running USA.

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