Birthday Boy

This is Ross - a friend's husband. I took the photo immediately after the morning 5k run.   He turned 80 years old last week. He is a member of the Parkview running group and runs the Parkrun every Saturday. I asked him to move away from the cafe doorway and the defibrillator, but he thought it was funny and decided to stay where he was - in case he needed it.

Ross started running in 1975 at age 31 when he lived in South Africa. He ran 23 X  Comrades marathons (56miles each), during which he  achieved 12 silver medals- his best time being 6h10 mins. His best time for a standard Marathon (training for Comrades) was 2h48mins.

He ran scenic runs at the ‘foot of Africa’  ( most southerly point in Africa ) at Cape Augulis and ran round Robin Island in 1988 (15Km). In 1978 he ran a  46KM race against a train ( and came first - beating the train)! Only 3 competitors managed to beat the train.

His biggest achievements were the  2 X 100 mile races  where he came first and 3rd..  He also did two tedious 100KM circuit street races where he ran throughout the night  - Madness at its best !

There was also the Cosmos 3 in 1 where he ran a marathon, a half marathon and a 10K in one day with a couple of hours break in between.  He won Masters on that ( over age 50). 

The list goes on and it is a honour to be in the same running group and run with him - when I don't have a knee and hip problem, that is.