269/365 Not Just for Young People: Running a Marathon

Friends and Fitness Enthusiasts,

Have you heard about this guy? He's amazing! I'm talking about Clarence Hartley who will be running the Boston Marathon for the first time. He started running marathons 13 years ago and has clocked his fastest marathon time at 4:09. Did I mention that he's 81 years old? Read more about this role model to us all at Runner's World.

He's not the only older person with whom I've been impressed. We have a 62 year old man at my gym who has been doing 30 minutes of calisthenics every morning and running ~4 miles every day since he was 20! He is 42 years strong and his hoping he's got at least another 16 years left. I say 16 because he told me about someone who is 92 and had to stop running at the age of 78. Mind you, these two met at a gym where the 92 year old still works out today. Another example is a 53 year old woman here. Three years ago, she decided that she's going to start exercising. Her walk became a jog, then a run, and finally running a marathon. These people don't consider themselves to be gods or superhumans; they are just regular people who had a goal and decided to go for it.

I hope this inspires you to realize that it's never too late to start. However, if you wait too long, you run the risk of not making it there.

In health,

Lauren