Not your usual reason to take up running
- Details
- Created on Monday, 23 August 2010 00:52
- Written by Joe Paisley
By JOE PAISLEY, THE GAZETTE
Many older runners take up the sport as a way to stay healthy in middle age and beyond. Ken Wood of Sultan, Wash., had a reason that struck closer to home during a messy divorce in 1990.
“You want the real reason? Instead of thinking of how to murder her, I took up running,” said Wood, 81, who raced both the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon for the second year in row this weekend. He ran his first marathon in 1992.
Wood reset the Ascent record he set in 2009 with an age-group (80-84) winning time of 4:44:09 on Saturday. He ran the marathon course in 9:05.50 on Sunday, falling short of the record he set in 2009 (8:43:23).
He is unsure if he will back next year, saying he struggles to run downhill.
“I’ve never had good balance,” he said. "I love going up, it’s the down that I don’t like.”
The Sydney, Australia, native first came to the United States in 1976 to compete in a road cycling race from the Mexican to Canadian border when he met his much younger ex-wife, with whom he has five kids, including two teenagers.
"Those teenagers will kill me long before this course does,” he said, grinning under his skull and crossbones head wrap. ”I’ll be back for the Ascent if we decide to move here.”
Weather
Current Contests
