Running for a Lifetime
Rich Dafter's Resources for Better Running
Running for a Lifetime
Rich Dafter's Resources for Better Running
Running Adventures

I Started Running 59 Years Ago Today

by |Published

I started running 59 years ago today at the first Somerville High School (NJ) cross country practice and I have been running ever since. These are my teammates and most of us met on this day 59 years ago at the Raritan Valley Country Club.

I Started Running 59 Years Ago Today

AUTHOR

Rich Dafter
Prior to May 1985, I was super fit and super healthy, routinely running between 50 to 70 miles a week. Between March 16th and May 5th 1985, I ran 34:32 for 10K, 57:46 for 10 miles, 53:20 for 15K, 27:38 for 5 miles and 16:26 for 5K. I was 34 years old. On May 17, 1985, at around 5:00 PM on a Friday night, I was driving home with my then five year old daughter and we hit a van broadside. The van had been stopped in the left lane of a four lane road with its left blinker on and unexpectedly made a right turn out of the left lane directly in front of us. That accident, although we both survived, in an instant, ruined my health and changed my life. On Sunday, May 19th, I ran the Midland Run 15K (which I had run and eventually would run or try to run, 13 years in a row) and ran 53:03.

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