PROFILE--Hal Goforth has been running for 50+ years

(Apr. 2021) Hal Goforth has a particular fondness for the Boston Marathon, which he has completed 39 times. He set his marathon PR in Boston in 1981 with a 2:28:33. In 1998, when 53.5, he won the 50-59 division. He has also been an eight- time winner of his age-group in the BAA Half Marathon. Now 76, Goforth lives in El Cajon CA, but also spends a month or two each year deep-sea fishing off the Florida Keys. Despite injuries and a heart-valve replacement in recent years, he continues to train regularly with his running partners in San Diego. "Build relationships that will last a lifetime," he says.

Career-profession: I served as a US Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Diver (EOD)for 26.5 yrs (i.e., 4.5 yrs active duty and 22 yrs reserves), a Navy Marine Mammal Trainer in Vietnam, and retired as a Navy CAPT. I received a

PROFILE: Frank Bright has been running for 59 years

First race post heart attack

(Apr, 2021) Last November Frank Bright ran a sensational half-marathon--a 1:51 at age 76. But the Shreveport, LA, runner had a few bad races as well in the following weeks. He was puzzled. Then things got worse. In early January, he learned that he had suffered a heart attack, and would need surgery and stents. Okay, you do what you gotta do. By March, Bright was running again, and in April he raced, modestly, in a local 5K. He hopes to be marathoning again later this year. He says running has taught him not to obsess over where you are on the race course ... or the life course. In another mile, or a few more weeks, a dark outlook often looks much brighter.

Career-profession? I spent 6 1/2 years studying Chemical Engineering (B.S. and M.S.), 3 1/2 years working in the field for Dow Chemical in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and then turned to law (LSU-Baton Rouge). While in engineering graduate school, I coached the LSU

PROFILE--Bill Rodgers has been running for 57 years, with a few wins and many friends along the way

(Mar., 2021) Bill Rodgers is known around the globe for his many road race and marathon wins during the first running boom of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and frequent appearances even when he didn't win. Just as important: His affable personality won him many fans throughout his career. He has a wide-eyed charm  and friendliness that made some competitors think him "spacey." They usually finished behind Rodgers in races, where he displayed a razor-sharp focus and determination. He likes to quote himself: "If you want to win a race, you have to go a little berserk." At 73, "Boston Billy" does much of his running with his partner, Karen, and looks forward to entering races again later in the year. He retains both is deep passion for running, and his kid-like appreciation for it. He'll chat with anyone at any race about any topic. He's one of the sport's ultimate champions, on all levels.

Career/Profession? Professional runner, motivational speaker. Prior to that I got my MA in special education at Boston College and taught for three years in the Boston School system.

When did you start running and why? I guess you could say I started running as a kid with my brother and

PROFILE--Roger Robinson has been running for 62 years

5K road race, 2016. Photo by Bob Kopac

(Mar, 2021) Roger Robinson is a runner with many years, races, and wins under his belt. He is also a writer who keeps the history of our sport alive and well through his deeply researched, witty and thoroughly enjoyable books. He is well known on the speaker circuit and is a stadium announcer. Robinson has a sense of humor, too. When we asked him if running has helped him deal with the aging process, he responded, "I'm only 81 so it's too soon to say." He splits his time between Wellington, New Zealand, and New York State with his wife, Kathrine Switzer.

 

Tell us about yourself.  I like to live a balanced life. With a career as a professor and writer, I've also always been active as a runner. I'm no rustic but I couldn't live an entirely indoors life. Running on all terrains and in all weathers is part of my being. (Hence no treadmills or gym workouts). I was born in England, moved to New Zealand in my twenties, and ran world championship cross-country for both countries. First marathon was at age 41, and I ran well as a master (marathon PR 2:18:45; 2:28:01 at 50). World titles (10K and Cross-Country) at 41 and 50. 

Went well again late 70s, after knee replacements (10K, 47:38 at 77, 54:11 at 80).  Married for 34 years to Kathrine Switzer (they said it wouldn't last), we divide our lives between

PROFILE--Dick Rapson has been running for 65 years

(Mar., 2021) Dick Rapson has been running and coaching in northeast Philly for longer than most. He says his athletic credentials aren't special, but how many people do you know who are still running strong 65 years after starting? "I’ve tried to combine my fitness with my coaching career," says Rapson, 81, from Lansdale, PA. "Back in the 60’s-80’s I used to run with the guys and explain the biology of fitness as we ran." A true coach-educator; we can never have enough of those. "I've always tried to use our sport to help kids feel good about their achievements," he adds. [LifetimeRunning.net co-host Amby Burfoot can attest to this. Burfoot's wife, Cristina Negron, got her start in running on one of Rapson's mid-1970s cross-country teams.]

Career-profession: I began teaching in 1961 and retired in 2006. (43 of those years at Lower Moreland- mainly teaching AP biology). I continued to coach track (about 40 years; beginning in 1966) and cross country (51 years until my Covid “sabbatical” in 2020; I began the LM program in 1969). At this point I’m up in the air about returning to XC in 2021. 

When did you start running and why? I begin running in HS as track was the only spring sport. It was a terrible

PROFILE: Shawn Chillag has been running for 43 years

Chillag in costume in hot dog race.

 (Mar, 2021) Shawn Chillag doesn't say much below about his life's work, but he's an MD who has been teaching at medical schools for many years. He spent a good part of his career at the University of South Carolina, with its well-known exercise super heroes like Russ Pate and Steve Blair. Currently, Chillag, 72, is a dept head at the West Virginia University School of Medicine. He's been running for 43 years, figures he's logged around 110,000 lifetime miles, and appears to have a talent for dressing in costumes. Another fun fact: His son and excellent runner, Ian, works with runner Pete Sagal on NPR's well-known "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" show, and also hosts a podcast with the catchy title "Everything Is Alive" in which he interviews inanimate objects. Chillag sr. reports a great benefit of aging: "I can’t move quickly enough now to injure anything."

Career-profession: Mostly a learner and teacher. 

When did you start running and why? I read at age 29 that if you don’t get fit by age 30, then it never happens. My brother had challenged me to do a race; we did it and I was hooked. 

How much did you run in your peak years, miles/week, etc? I averaged about 50 miles weekly. This got me

PROFILE--Sam Cox has been running for 49 years

Finishing a marathon last November.

 (Feb. 2020) Sam Cox started running in 1972 to get in shape for football, but soon realized that a running-focus made more sense for him. Six years later, he completed his first marathon, and almost qualified for  Boston. The next year, he did qualify, running a 2:48. He would eventually reduce that time all the way down to 2:30:58. Now 62 and living in Greensboro, NC, he still logs 40 to 45 miles a week, and races marathons despite foot problems (Haglund's) and a history of atrial fibrillation. "I am grateful to be out there running, slow or not," he says. "Nothing clears my mind, reduces my tension, fosters my creative side, allows me to think, to ponder, to pray, or to imagine quite like a good run."

Career-profession? I graduated Wake Forest University in 1981 with my BS degree, where I walked on to the cross country and track teams and ran my sophomore and senior years, and was on an Army ROTC scholarship. Following graduate work at the University of South Carolina (MS) in 1983, I served five years in the army in San Antonio and Germany. I then began a career in education (while working part-time in the Army Reserves, retiring in 2002), picking up additional graduate degrees at Oregon State University (1991) and The College of William & Mary (1993) while teaching history, coaching cross country and track, and then moving into educational administration. I spent the past 25 years