PROFILE--Hugh Biggin has been running for 40 years

(Jan 2021) Hugh Biggin appears to be one of those quiet, engineer types. He's not loud, not banging a gavel to get anyone's attention. He just goes about his business, day after day after .... He's methodical. He's got running logs dating back to 1980, and when a covid pandemic slowed down life a bit of late, he took the time to convert hundreds of pages of paper to a digital spreadsheet. The 65-year-old resident of Berwyn PA enjoys "streaking" too. His longest every-day run streak reached 9+ years, and he's currently working on 3 years, 11 months, and counting. For some reason, he runs 8 times a week. Hey, why not? "Just be consistent," he tells other runners. "Never get too high, and never too low."

Career-profession: I worked as an engineer for a large construction management firm

When did you start running and why? To get into shape.

How much did you run in your peak years? I have averaged 2480 miles per year. Always tried to maintain

PROFILE--Jim Whiting has been running for 61 years ... and writing almost as long

Finishing a Hood to Coast Relay

(Dec. 2020) Jim Whiting spent much of his adult life living in the Seattle, WA, area, where he ran, coached, and published one of the more influential regional running magazines, Northwest Runner. (A couple of years ago, he moved to Corvallis, OR, to be closer to several grandchildren.) Whiting, now 77, says he was literally the slowest kid in his 7th grade PE class, but later learned he had more endurance than speed. So he became a miler, of course. Then later an adventure travel guy: He has run in three of Greece's most historic sites. In his spare time, Whiting has written more than 300 books for young readers.

Career-profession? From the time I started running in 1958, virtually everything significant in my life is connected directly or indirectly to running. I published Northwest Runner magazine for 17 years. Panels of professional journalists named

PROFILE--Gary Allen has been running (around Maine and beyond) for 48 years

(Dec. 2020) Gary Allen has been described as a wacky and fun-loving runner and favorite son of Maine. Home for Allen is a tiny offshore island called Great Cranberry. His family settled there in the late1600s making him a 12th generation family man. The main road is only 2 miles long, which is a fairly ridiculous place to become a long distance runner. Allen is one of three dozen runners worldwide to run a sub-three-hour marathon in five different decades (the only woman in that club is another Mainer, Joan Benoit-Samuelson).

With his long lean frame and megawatt smile, Allen holds court anywhere he goes. He’s the founder of the Mount Desert Island Marathon and the Great Run, a six-hour ultramarathon where competitors simply run back and forth on Great Cranberry Island  - remember, only 2 miles long - as many times as they can.

Allen, 63, also is credited with saving an impoverished Maine town, Milllinocket, by creating a marathon there. It runs through the Maine North Woods in the middle of December. It's an unlikely destination race, but when Allen puts out the call, runners respond. One of his mantras: "Create something amazing." He has achieved this several times over.

Career-Profession? Hmmmm. I have always been an entrepreneur of sorts so classifying what I do as having a beginning or an end, such as retirement is more abstract to me

PROFILE--Bill Mallon has been running and cycling for 50 years

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 (Nov. 2020) Lifetime runners come in many shapes and sizes, and have many talents outside their 5K PR. Here's one, for example, who played on the professional golf tour, went to medical school, and ranks as perhaps the leading historian-statistician of the Olympic Games. (See Olympedia.org). Bill Mallon, 68, also loves nothing more than a hard workout--the kind that leave you dripping with sweat, chest heaving. He gets them primarily on the bike these days, in New Hampshire and Hilton Head, but also runs several times a week, as he has since high school. He's a motivational quote collector, too. An example, from Roger Bannister: "Remember that athletes need disappointments to succeed."

Career-profession? I’ve had several. I was a professional golfer, playing on the PGA Tour from 1975-79. Then went to Duke Medical School and became an orthopedic surgeon, specializing in shoulder surgery. I stopped practicing in 2014 but have been the editor of Journal of Shoulder and Elbow Surgery since 2009 and continue to do that. I also have had a hobby of writing about the Olympics

PROFILE--"Flamingo Joe" Edgecombe has been running for 35 years

(Nov. 2020) Flamingo Joe Edgecombe has been running for 35 years and has never met an ultra he didn’t like. At 71, Joe Edgecombe is living large and still dreaming big. He made it to the “Big Dance” of the Boston Marathon, his first big dream, and then dared to dream even bigger and started doing ultras. As a race director, volunteer, and friend to every runner on the road and the trail, Joe, from Panama City FL, is famous for handing out tiny plastic pink flamingos. “When I see someone struggling I give them one of my little pink flamingos and twist it on their hydration pack. I tell them all will be ok and that they will never have to run alone again!” He figures he’s handed out over one thousand though the years. 

Career/Profession? I was the Director of Respiratory Care in a local hospital for 28 years and also did diagnostic pulmonary testing for an additional 10 years. I retired in 2014 and am loving it. I’m also President of the

PROFILE--Dan Brannen has been running and adventure racing for 53 years

Brannen and Marcy Schwam last March, Great Glen NH

(Oct 2020) Dan Brannen has never done things half-way. A one-time 2:31 marathoner, he moved up to the really-longer distances (like 48 hours, and 6 days). He also established a business measuring courses, and organizing events. In recent years, the 67-year-old from Morristown NJ has specialized primarily in adventure races where, in tandem with one or several teammates who must stick together at all times, he runs, bikes, hikes, skiis, and snowshoes through wilderness areas for 12 to 24 hours at a go. Along the way, he enjoys dealing with whatever issues come up. "Seriously, folks: There is a solution to every problem," he says. "It never just gets worse."

Career-profession: I am president of DJB Event Consultants, Inc. We are an event production company specializing in Operations & Logistics, concentrating primarily on footraces. But we have also been involved operationally with triathlons, cycling events, and non-athletic corporate events. I manage some aspects of course operations for the NYC Half-Marathon, Brooklyn Half-Marathon, and NYC Marathon. I am the Race Course Manager for the Broad Street Run and the Philadelphia Marathon. I am the Race Director of the Verizon Corporate Classic 5K in Morristown, NJ, the largest corporate team race in New Jersey. I also serve as the Director of Operations for the JPMorgan Corporate Challenge in Central Park, NYC. And I am the Course Director for the Garden State Fondo cycling event, which was named by Gran Fondo Guide magazine as the #1 Gran Fondo event in the U.S. I am also an IAAF/AIMS Grade A course certifier. I serve as the official course measurer for the NYC, Philadelphia, and New Jersey Marathons.

PROFILE--Ian Barnes has been running for 65 years. And he's still winning.

Photo here and below by Karen Harland.

(Oct 2020) Last week Ian Barnes gained at least 15 minutes of fame when a BBC video circulated widely around the Internet. In the video, Barnes, 85, finishes a one-mile track race in England in 8:10--apparently a British record for his age. That's also faster than the American record for an 85-year old. Members of Barnes's club, Darlington Harriers, helped Lifetime Running contact Barnes, and he graciously responded to our questions (in a very understated, British sort of way.) Barnes has become the first lifetime runner to recommend golf for cross-training. He's no softie, though. He's still running 40 to 50 miles a week, and believe in the no pain-no gain philosophy. "The harder you train, the luckier you get," he says.

Career-profession? I was employed  as a  Legal Executive  in the legal profession.

 

When did you begin running and why? I started running in 1955. The local harriers club was advertising  for new members in the local press. As I had  enjoyed running at school and in the army, I felt I should give it try. That was the beginning of my journey.

 

How much are you currently training? About 40 to 50 miles a week.

 

Best races and/or greatest achievements? As a senior athlete, I won medals in the 880 yards and one-mile events in the county championships. I also represented the county in the inter-county cross-country championships. 

 

As a veteran/master athlete, I have won several gold medals in