Older Runners Prepare For Marathon

CLEVELAND -- Ralph, Rudy and Jim are young at heart in more ways than one. Running keeps them feeling young, according to this week's Successful Aging report.

"It's kept me out of trouble If I'm in the streets doing something positive," said Ralph Lowery, 52, a marathon runner. "Actually, I run with a lot of friends so it's actually very social."

Running is also a stress reliever.

"We had six children at home and I needed something to calm my nerves, so that helped," said Jim Mackert, 66, another marathon runner.

Rudy Murn, 55, added: "Well, stress at work or stress with normal everyday life you have, and it just keeps you at even keel."

They have all run in Cleveland's 10K and marathon, and they can't wait to run in Sunday's marathon.

"Everybody can do something even if you don't even run, walk as long as you're doing something ... that's the important thing," Lowery said.

The addiction counselor said he used to smoke.

"Truly, the money I used to spend on smoking I now spend on shoes and it's much more positive things," Lowery said. "A lot of people don't realize there are a lot of positive addictions."

WEWS said if you want to run, get good shoes. Also, set realistic goals and don't listen to the naysayers.

"When I started running marathons, my neighbors told me, 'You're not going to be able to keep doing that,' " Lowery said. " 'You'll be walking on crutches and everything else.' Quite a few of them aren't around anymore, and I'm still running marathons."