Senior Runner Keeps Treading On |
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Bill Tribou is annoyed.
His
legs just won't move as quickly as he wants them to anymore. And don't
even ask about his time for a 5K these days. Terrible: 38 minutes,
maybe 37 on a good day. Those are 12-minute miles. Sheesh. He can't
believe it.
Tribou, of Granby, Connecticut, turned 90 on
December 18, 2010. But on November 27 he was still 89 and ran in the
85–89 division of the 4.748-mile Manchester Road Race in Manchester,
CT, which boasts 15,000 runners overall. Placing first in his division
with a time of 59:37, he was a full 17 ½ minutes ahead of the other
runner in the age group. “When you're running, you are
competing and that was the fun of running and racing. Now there aren’t
that many people running so you’re running a lot of races by yourself,"
said Tribou, one of the first All-American runners at the University of
Connecticut in the early '40s. At that time he held the 11th fastest
time in the world for the mile of 4:14 (the world record was 4:04).
"You knew about where you should be. The whole fun of it for any runner
who competes in age groups, or period, is the competition, trying to
beat a guy. Now, the fun for me is the social aspect of it.”
Runners,
though fitter than the general population, age just like everybody
else. There are many who are simply grateful to be able to run as they
get older. Some have a harder time dealing with aging than others,
especially if they have run at a high level or if they have an
especially competitive personality. Of course, people tell them they
should be happy simply to be running at their age.
Don't think Tribou isn't happy to be running. He is. It's hard to be satisfied with a 13-minute mile.
Tribou
has been a top age group road racer through his 70s and 80s. In the
Manchester Road Race, he already holds the record in the 80–84 age
group with a relatively swift 41:33, set when he was 81. His goal is to
break the 90-and-over record of 1:01:26 in the 2011 race.
Excerpts from the Hartford Courant www.courant.com
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