After 60,000 miles running, this 75-year-old is ready for an ultramarathon
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Tom Carr in action on the roads. Photo: Courtesy of Tom Carr
For more than four decades now, Tom Carr, a retired school counselor living in Hillsborough, has been recording the results of his near-daily runs.
- Turns out you can get pretty far by the time you're 75.
Why it matters: Carr is a testament to the power of consistency and the longevity that can come from showing up every day without fail.
- Carr has now run more than 60,000 miles in his lifetime, all of them outside in the elements and all of them, he says, are vital to keeping his head on straight.
Driving the news: Later this month, Carr will attempt his longest run yet — a 100-mile ultramarathon that most people wouldn't dream of completing, let alone in their eighth decade.
- The race, called A Race for the Ages in Tennessee, will give him exactly 75 hours to finish the 100 miles. It starts Aug. 28.
Zoom in: Carr is one of the founding members of the Hillsborough Running Club, embracing the sport before it was a mainstream pursuit and helping organize races in Orange County.
- He chalks up his longevity to the power of consistency and to what he believes are the therapeutic effects of breathing in fresh air and listening to the soundscapes of the woods. He also never embarks on a run without eating a peanut butter and jelly bagel. (The jelly has to be sugar-free Smuckers; the peanut butter could be anything.)
- No matter what, he never listens to music or a podcast, which he believes can stop the flow of creative thoughts when running alone.
- For years, he carried a notebook to jot down all the thoughts that would race through his mind on the run. Without that, he says, he would never have been able to write 15 books on education issues.
Yes, but: Running has also helped manage some of the hardest moments of Carr's life, including losing Carlye, his partner of 53 years, last year to the effects of Alzheimer's.
- Carr's hoping to use the 100-mile race to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association in her honor.
- "If I wasn't able to get out of the house and go running, I don't know how I would have survived that difficult period of time," Carr said of his wife's health.
- "I think about her a whole lot when I'm when I'm out on the run, and I'm still struggling with it", he added. "With Alzheimer's, you know, her reasoning and her thinking, it wasn't there, so we didn't have any closure."
- Now, in a period where research funding is being cut, Carr believes the "Alzheimer's Association needs all the help they can get."
What they're saying: One unexpected benefit of never giving up the daily habit of running, according to Carr, is that he is finally winning awards at races he competes in.
- While he never had blazing speed in his most athletic years — he describes himself as slow and steady — Carr now routinely finishes at the top of his age group when he runs a marathon or 5k.
- "There's not a lot of people in the 75 and up age group," he said, laughing. "I didn't win any medals or trophies or nothing until I was in my 60s!"
Stop by: Hillsborough Run Club meets Wednesday at 6pm and Sunday at 8am at Weaver Street Market, Hillsborough.