My friend Kerry Winston Ward does a lot of ultra running, and this year he ran the Delirious West endurance race. That is a 200+ mile race that runs along the southwest coast of Australia. Kerry does videos of his adventures, and in this one he had a chance to do a running interview with a runner named Gene Dykes.

Gene Dykes is 70 and is well known in the long ultra world as the “ultra geezer”. He has finished all of the 200 milers in the US, as well as long races on other continents. When Kerry asked his secret, he said that because he didn’t start running until he was 58 years old his joints didn’t get worn out early. Maybe your late start was actually a benefit to you! I will be reaching that age threshold next year, and I am also a late starter to trail running and hope to also be an ultra geezer at some point in the future.

Here is a link to Mr. Ward’s chronicle of the inaugural Delirious West if you are interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak0UDF5eHHo