When I lived in New York, my then boyfriend and I ran races with the New York Road Runners. Boyfriend was a much faster runner than me, but, given the literal thousands of other runners in each race, there were always people faster than him… including an elderly man.
One of the people who consistently finished ahead of Boyfriend was a man who was 30 years older than him! We’ll call this person Speedy Old Man. Sometimes Boyfriend was quick enough to finish seconds behind Speedy (Old Man), so we eventually learned what he looked like. (To be fair, this wasn’t hard: The wrinkles in Speedy’s skin and his thinning white hair exposed his geriatric status.) Speedy became both a target and an inspiration: Could Boyfriend outrun Speedy this time? (No.) Or next time? (No.)
We automatically started checking Speedy’s race times after looking up our own. Speedy ran a lot of races! He was nearly always the fastest person in his age group! (Can you believe that he had competitors???) What a marvel: Speedy was prolific, persistent, and a paragon of successful aging.
In addition to leaving us in the dust, he left us feeling inspired.
Boyfriend became Husband, and then we moved out of New York. Despite living on opposite coasts, we still thought of Speedy whenever the New York City Marathon made the news or when the YouTube algorithm introduced us to elderly athletes.
We recently watched elite international runners race the rainy New York City 5th Avenue Mile. (The winner of the men’s race finished the mile in less than 3 minutes and 48 seconds!) This made us wonder about Speedy: Was he still running? (Was he still alive?)
The New York Road Runners race archive revealed that his last race was in early 2020. He was in his mid-80s! His age group ranged from 80 to 99 years old; he placed 3rd at a pace of about 12 minutes per mile! Incredible.
But what happened? There have been races since early 2020, but many other things had happened since then. Was he still running? (Was he still alive?)
After some sleuthing, I found his e-mail address and, pushing my reluctance aside, pressed send after writing this note:
My name is Maria Yang and I live in Seattle, Washington. I am writing to thank you for inspiring my husband and me.
We’ve never met, but my husband and I have “known” you since 2008 or so. At that time, he and I lived in New York City and routinely ran in NYRR races. My then boyfriend and now husband was consistently impressed / playfully irked that you consistently beat him in NYRR races, given the 30+ years of difference in age.
Since then, both in New York and since moving to Seattle, we have periodically thought of you. We enjoyed the idea that you were still running and inspiring people of all ages with your running and speed.
Today we watched the NYC Fifth Avenue Mile race on YouTube, which made us think of you again. We looked up your results on the NYRR results page (sorry that this is creepy behavior; we also found your e-mail address here) and were amazed with your results from your races in 2019 and 2020. We hope that we ourselves will still be running and racing when we are in our 80s.
We hope that you and yours remain healthy and well. Thank you for offering a valuable perspective on successful aging and for the inspiration you offer to runners of all ages and abilities. Your influence is transcontinental!
No automated e-mail bounced back to tell me that the address no longer existed. I released any expectations of a response–I just wanted to thank him.
I squeaked when I saw Speedy’s name in my mailbox. Two days had passed and he had sent a response!
Maria: Thank you for your email. Although I can no longer run, I do aerobics and strength training as much as I can. I believe that this has really helped me in my life. My last race was a 5K [in early] 2020. Although I was in the last corral and finished behind almost everyone else, I really enjoyed doing it. Speedy Old Man
He wasn’t running, but he was still alive! And was willing to respond to a stranger on the internet!
I immediately forwarded this to Husband and, when we saw each other later that day, we beamed. What a gift.
One of the later reactions I had to Speedy’s e-mail was sadness and anger. I don’t know why he can no longer run, but it seems likely that the pandemic was a contributor. Maybe he got infected with Covid in 2020. Maybe he became ill with something else and couldn’t access medical care because of the pandemic. Maybe, like one of my beloved family members, he became deconditioned and his mobility drastically declined.
The pandemic has taken so much from so many people.
I learned this lesson upon the death of my mother, though the pandemic reinforced it: If you want to thank someone, don’t hesitate. Thank them as soon as you can. Tell them what they mean to you, what they did that you appreciate, how they have made your life better. Time is short. If you wait, you may never again have the chance to offer the gift of your attention and thanks.
Thanks, Speedy Old Man.
Maria Yang, MD 