For the past 35 years or so, I have been a runner. My daily routine consists of a five-mile run followed by a seven-mile bike ride. Over the years, I have competed in numerous 10K (6.2 mile) events, 5Ks (3.1 mile), a marathon (26.2 mile), several half marathons; and for the past 21 years, I have participated in a ten-mile race in Flint, Michigan, universally known as The Crim Festival of Races. I say universally known, because it attracts runners from all over the world (7,000 runners in the most recent race), including a large contingent from Kenya. Being the altruistic member of the running community that I am, I always let the Kenyans beat me just to illustrate my hospitality. Beat me? Heck, they run each mile in just over four minutes to my 9-½ minute miles. It’s like saying, “We’ll race you, Bill, and give you a five-mile head start and still beat you.”

Several years ago, I started competing in duathlons—a two-mile run followed by 18 miles on my bike and then a five-mile run to complete the event. Evidently there aren’t too many senior citizens who can run and bike, thus I have been fortunate to win my age group on a regular basis. On the other hand, I’m one of the few senior citizens who lacks a swimming prowess so that prevents me from competing in triathlons, which is where most of the seniors compete.

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