Running Into Old Age

Eric Van De Graaff, M.D. - My wife talked me into running a marathon this year. As you know, a marathon is a running race that covers 26.2 miles and for many runners is the culminating event in a career of running. I started training about 5 months ago and now I into my last week—the race is this Saturday. The marathon I’ve chosen takes place in St. George, Utah and is a beautiful course that descends through the red rock country of the desert southwest. I ran this particular race exactly 21 years ago and haven’t done it since. Not learning my lesson from this first painful experience, I then ran several other marathons in different cities but stopped putting myself through this misery about 12 years ago. My wife ran the Boston Marathon last spring (not long after knee surgery) and was such an inspiration to me that I agreed to sign up for one last race.

I still consider myself a youngish person, but if I compare myself to active professional athletes I come off looking like a wizened old geezer. Most pro basketball and football players retire in their 30s, most tennis players hang up their racquets in their 20s, and nearly all gymnasts and figure skaters transition into “where-are-they-now?” status shortly after puberty. Anomalies such as Brett Favre and Michael Jordan manage to drag themselves back for a “post-retirement” second act, and the mere fact that they can still walk makes the front page of the sports section. In all these sports the athletes peak in their mid-twenties and quickly decline thereafter.

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