Record-holding 94yo takes on the Gold Coast Marathon

For more than 40 years, Ken has been an active long-distance runner. Now, at 94, he has continued to follow his passion, participating in the Gold Coast Marathon over the weekend.

The Bolton Clarke Winders Lodge resident and his daughter Linda ran in the 5km event and while competing this year looked a little different for Ken using the assistance of his walker, he says his competitive edge hasn’t changed.

“I appreciate the fact that I can still participate, even if it is with my walker which I fondly call ‘Whizzer’,” Ken said.

“Even though I’m a little slower now, I’m still competitive and held two records at the Gold Coast Marathon in the 90-94 age group for the 10km and 5km up until this year.

“I was hoping to do it in about 50 minutes and got it in 54 minutes!”

After living in the co-located retirement village at Winders Lodge for some time, Ken has recently made the move into residential aged care and says it hasn’t hindered his running schedule.

“We still go running almost every day – Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, and we are a part of a few run clubs in the area.

“I was living in the retirement village here but I got to the stage where I couldn’t manage my vertigo so I’ve been here in aged care for about a month now.

“I was concerned that maybe once I moved in here I wouldn’t be able to make it out to do my runs but I’m grateful for the amount of encouragement I’ve received.

“The manager Josh said anything I’m doing now I can continue and that was fantastic to hear because running is a major part of my life.”

Ken started his running journey in his 40s when he was talked into participating by his colleagues at the time.

“I owned a milk run in Campbeltown and a couple of the milkos did a bit of running so I entered in the Fisher’s Ghost Fun Run with them.

“That’s how it all started and I just caught the bug for it.”

While Ken narrowly missed upholding his record for the 5km event this year, he is hoping to set a new record in the 95-99 category next year and continue to uphold his record in the local Parkrun, which he attends every Saturday.