PROFILE--76-yr-old Gary Patton holds a lot of American Records
PROFILE--Bill Shreffler started running, lost 70 lbs, and is going strong 100,000 miles later
(May, 2022) Bill Shreffler started running for a typical reason: He didn't like the way he looked in the bathroom mirror after stepping out of the shower. Seventy pounds later, he was off and entering marathons. His personal record isn't sensational--3:34--but his consistency is. Now 68 and living in Coumbia, MO, Shreffler is still running every day of the week and logging more than 50 miles per week. His attitude is world class: "I know that every day I have over an hour of quiet time early in the morning," he says. "I can reflect on yesterday, think about the day ahead, forgive myself for the many mistakes I have made in my life and get excited about the future."
Career-profession? Managing Member of BridgeWorx – medical device distributor.
When did you start running and why? I was 70 pounds overweight and bet a co-worker that I would lose more weight than he did. I won the bet.
How much did you run in your peak years? Peak years I ran 100 miles/week as I trained for marathons.
Best performances? After living in Colorado Springs and training at an altitude of 6,500 feet I ran my 7th Chicago marathon and had a PR of 3:34:00. Before I had my PR at Chicago I ran the Los Angeles Marathon in March 1992 after training through a harsh Chicago winter and finished in 3:50:26.
Total lifetime miles? I passed 100,000 miles last October (all well documented with some commentary about the run)
How much are you running and cross-training now? I run 54 miles/week – 8 miles Monday through Saturday and 6 miles on Sunday. I also lift weights
PROFILE--Richard Houston has completed 27 Boston Marathons in a row
(Apr. 2022) Richard Houston just completed the Boston Marathon in 4:39:18. It sounds a modest achievement until you consider that it was his 27th Boston in a row, 34th overall, and he's now 65 years old. A melanoma survivor, he credits his long-term success to learning when the can "run through" an injury, and when that's a bad idea. He likes the 1979 Boston Marathon poster of Bill Rodgers hitting the finish with just a single word on the poster: "Relentless."
Career-profession? I recently retired after 43 years of teaching high school history. I worked at St. John's High School in
Steve and Paula Boone have run nearly 1200 marathons (collectively)
(Mar. 2022) Steve (72) and Paula Boone (a mere 55) are fixtures in the running community. Based in Humble TX, they run on average 20-35 marathons a year. Paula was originally from Utah but after meeting a longhaired hippy at the 1997 Boston Marathon she lost her heart to him and embraced Texas. Steve just completed his 800th marathon at the Houston Marathon in January. He did his first marathon there and runs it every time he hits a 100 anniversary. His most prolific year of marathons was in 2014 when he ran 46. Paula reached her milestone of 365 marathons in January of 2021. “This way I have a tee shirt for every day of the year without doing laundry,” she comments. She runs an average of 14 marathons a year and as many as 35 but says Steve is much more dedicated than she is. “I don’t love running. I love to eat, travel and hang out with my friends and doing marathons in all 50 states multiple times allows me to do all of those things. Running is just the painful part of getting there,” says Paula. Between them, they have 6 kids, 9 grandkids and 1 great-grandkid.
Career-profession? Steve: I am mostly retired from my career as a computer programmer and feel a bit like a blacksmith after cars became widely available. Paula is a retired schoolteacher. In 1992 I created the Marathon Challenge program. The original intent was twofold. I wanted
PROFILE: Yuko Gordon, 71 next month, is one of the world's greatest marathon runners
Career-profession? My main career was Flight Hostess (Airline Stewardess) at Cathay Pacific Airways for 10 years from 1974 to1984. I left Japan for Hong Kong to take up the job when I was 23. I loved flying and travelling around the world, which was so liberating and exciting seeing the different places, the cultures and the people. In recent years, I only do volunteer work one morning a week as a gym assistant for the day patients at a local Hospice. In 1984 before the Olympics, the only crucial mistake I made,
PROFILE--Mike Wien won the 70-74 division at both Boston and New York City last fall
Career profession: I spent the first 28 years of my career in senior marketing roles with Frito-Lay, Pepsi, Omni Hotels, CitiBank, and Deloitte. While at Frito-Lay, I launched FANTASTIX (a huge failure) followed by TOSTITOS (a very big winner.) The next 15 years were in the