Masters Runners: Running into Old Age

June 2000

The camera lens was getting too close and Dan Conway said he didn't want his wrinkles to show.

He was kidding, of course. At age 61, wrinkles are no bid deal. Conway isn't bothered by ego.

The most distiguished distance runner in Superior history figures he's just another guy on the road and he's even more self-effacing since retiring six months ago and moving from Chetek, Wis., back to his hometown.

"If you really want to excel, you have to be motivated, or addicted, or call it what you want. Running has to be part of you," Conway said. "For a while, running became who I was and what I wanted to be. It's still fun for me, but I'm not as intense as I was and my days of winning races were over."

But don't believe he's over the hill. Conway may not be sponsored by Nike any longer, and he may not be setting world age-group records, but he can still motor.

The former Wisconsin-Superior football player and track sprinter is enterd in Saturday's 10th Garr Bjorklund Half-Marathon and would like to break the course mark for age 60-64, set last year by England's Cyril Leigh at 1 hour, 24 minutes, 4 seconds.

Conway still is a competitor.

"There are worse labels than being called a runner. If that's how I'm known, that's fine. I consider it a compliment," said Conway, who is 5-foot-10 and 140 pounds. "Running is what gets me out the door every day.

"Not every run is great, but there are times like last February that are almost surreal. I was running at night, in the snow on Barker's Island and an ore boat was breaking ice and had its searchlight on. I'm racing the boat and you could see the snow in the searchlight."

Conway isn't the only aging athlete who still enjoys the challenge of distance running. Also in the Bjorklund Half-Marathon is former Olympic marathoner John Campbell, 51, of New Zealand, ranked No. 1 in the world in 1999 in the men's 50-54 road racing age group by Running Times magazine. In Saturday's 24th Grandma's Marathon are Gloria Jansen, 53, of Edina, Minn., ranked No. 2 in women's 50-54; and Paul Paine, 61, of Grand Rapids, the top Minnesota man in the 60-64 age group in the 1999 Grandma's and Twin Cities marathons.

Returning as two-time defending Grandma's Marathon men's masters champion is 42-year-old Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia, ranked No. 1 in the world in 40-44.

From Superior to Chetek and back

After earning an education degree from the University of Wisconsin-Superior in 1963 and a physical education degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 1965, Conway figured to be a high school football coach and teacher.

He went from Nemadji Junior High, to Minong, to Superior Cathedral, to Owen-Withe (Wis.), and then in 1972 to Chetek High School, about 100 miles south of Superior.

During the 1976-77 school year Conway took part in a teacher-exchange program and lived in England. It was there he found running, at age 37.

"I saw a lot of people coming to the track clubs to run and I thought, `Maybe I'm not too old to start this,' " said Conway, who retired in 1997 but remained as Chetek's cross country coach through 1999. "The running boom was just starting in the United States and so when I came back the timing was right."

He likes the social aspects of running and the physical and emotional benefits. He attacked the sport with fervor and found a running partner in former Chetek principal Duane Fjelstad.

As the 1980s dawned, Conway turned 40 and became one of the world's top masters runners. In 1983, he won the world masters 10-kilometer road title in 30:26 in France at age 44, ran 2:23:25 at Grandma's Marathon and was inducted into the UWS Athletic Hall of Fame.

The self-coached Conway showed his versatility at age 53 by setting a world 50-54 indoor mile record of 4:41.31 in Los Angeles in 1992, topping a field that included two-time Olympic medalist Kip Keino of Kenya. He prepared for the race by running on frozen lakes around Chetek.

"My philosophy is that you race the best you can and congratulate people when you lose, and avoid getting too cocky when you win," said Conway, who plays the banjo and ukulele, and enjoys musicals like "Singing in the Rain" and "Damn Yankees."

Over the past 24 years he's averaged about 2,500 miles a year, had a single-week high of 106 miles, and has run in seven countries. His last marathon was the 1986 Twin Cities Marathon, running 2:24:31 at age 47. The half-marathon is now his maximum racing distance.

He married at age 51 and says he didn't regret any part of a union that dissolved after seven years. When an aunt and uncle left him their home in Superior, Conway let the house sit idle for more than a year, then moved home, saying it was time.

While he's raced on an elite level, one of the first things Conway did upon returning to Superior was volunteer as a grade-school track coach this spring at Superior Cathedral. He says he'd like to coach more.

No slowing down for Grand Rapids retiree

Paul Paine of Grand Rapids is loving retirement. He can run, bike, ski, snowshoe and canoe at his leisure, while entering about 30 races a year.

He retired as a superintendent at Blandin Paper Co. in 1995, then remained as a consultant through 1999 to complete 34 years on the job.

"You have to run like you're in a hurry when you have a job. Now, I can spend as much time as I want exercising," said Paine, a native of Duluth. "I do it for fun, but I'm also trying to get faster."

Paine's home is in the woods; bicycle and ski trails are literally right out his back door. He'll run with friends or his collie, Blue.

Aging, however, has meant more wear and tear on the body, like tendon, hamstring and groin injuries. But Paine has pushed on and runs not only marathons, but ultramarathons (those longer than the standard 26.2 miles). He ran 3:35:47 in the 1999 Grandma's, placing third among men 60-64, then ran 3:23:31 in the 1999 Twin Cities Marathon, finishing fourth in his age group.

"Running is good for the mind and the soul. I can feel like I'm 12 years old again," Paine said.

A latecomer gets hooked on running

Gloria Jansen put on running shoes for the first time in 1986, at age 39, ran her first marathon three years later and has now completed 35 marathons.

She's become such a fan of the sport that she's been on the board of directors of the Minnesota Distance Running Association and is helping coach 130 women preparing for a 5K and 10K race Aug. 12 in Minneapolis.

"People can start exercising at any age and when they get past the first few weeks, they see how much better they feel and they get hooked," said Jansen, who grew up in Lake City, Minn., graduated from Minnesota State-Mankato in 1969 and has worked in research and analysis for Target the past 17 years.

Saturday will mark Jansen's 12th consecutive Grandma's Marathon. She's following up on an impressive 1999.

Jansen was the women's 50-54 winner in last year's Grandma's and Twin Cities marathons at age 52. She ran a 19:04 5K, 32:14 8K, 39:28 10K, 1:02:38 15K and 3:05:52 marathon. She enters about 30 races a year from the mile to the marathon.

"Running is such a good excuse to be outside and is a nice way to relieve stress. More of my friends now are runners and our schedules are all about the same -- go to bed early, get up early, and run a lot," Jansen said.

Olympian returns to Duluth

As part of his quest John Campbell has been working 18 hours a day between his ski lodge and deer farm in National Park, New Zealand. Running has taken a back seat as he and his wife, Jody, are preparing to sell both ventures.

"I'd like to think I can get back into running. This last year has just been heaps of work and I've decided there's got to be more to life than working," said Campbell, who commutes from lodge to deer farm by piloting a helicopter.

There's little doubt Campbell can be a superstar in his 50s and beyond. He ran 2:14 to finish 12th in the 1988 Summer Olympics at age 39, then was named the best 40-year-old runner of the past 25 years after the unprecedented feat of winning masters marathon titles in Boston, New York and Los Angeles in consecutive years (1990, 1991). He set the men's masters world mark of 2:11:04 in Boston in 1991 at age 42.

Campbell is now taking aim at the world marathon record for 50-year-olds -- 2:20:28 by fellow New Zealander Jack Foster in 1982.

He figures he'll be fit enough in 2001, at age 52, and is planning to make the attempt in Grandma's Marathon. This week he's content with challenging for the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon men's title. He was second overall last year at age 50.

"Once you take away the work load, and get the proper rest and training, there's no limit to what you can accomplish," said Campbell, who has been staying with in-laws in Fort Atkinson, Wis., the past week.