PROFILE--Harry McCalla has been running (or moving at a good clip) for 61 years


(3-19) Harry McCalla began running at Berkeley High School (CA), and in college at Stanford (class of '65) recorded many top performances in the 880, mile, 2-mile, and steeplechase. In April 1963 McCalla ran a mile in 4:01.5--the alltime best for an an African American. He often ran against his friend Ben Tucker, recently profiled on this site. (See link in photo below.) McCalla collected five NCAA medals and has been inducted into three Halls of Fame. Now 76, he retired in 2012 and lives in Dallas. [Note: McCalla is no longer an active runner, but we're happy to publish profiles of fascinating, older runners who are still pursuing a fitness lifestyle through walking, strength-training, and other activities. Do what you can. That's McCalla.]

Career? I retired from IBM in 1993 after 25 years of sales and sales management. Then I worked for eight years as an Account Executive with Agilysys, a Premier IBM business partner. My last corporate employment was with ADT as a sales Account Manager. I left ADT in 2012.  

Lifetime miles? Maybe 100,000? Who knows. I’m just glad to still be here.

Started running and why? February 1958 (DOB: 1942). I started running as a sophomore at