Chris Gibson, 51, of Wilkins has won the 50-mile JFK ultra-marathon, which traverses part of the Appalachian Trail and Potomac towpath, four of the 13 times he ran it - the last time at 40 years of age.
"I think I'm still the oldest guy to win it," said Gibson.
He has even completed 100-mile ultra-marathons in good time. But his greatest achievement may come as a participant in the 2005 National Senior Olympic Games, held in June, when Pittsburgh will host 10,000 to 12,000 senior athletes from around the country.
Gibson, who manages the Executive Fitness Center at the Westin Convention Center in Pittsburgh, will compete in the 5K and 10K road races against the best runners in the U.S. over 50 years of age.
To participate, he had to compete in the Keystone Senior Games held in Shippensburg and meet a qualifying standard. He's excited about the opportunity to race in his hometown to help showcase the running talent in Pittsburgh.
"You don't want people coming in from out of town and stealing your thunder," said Gibson. "This is an opportunity to do something on a national level."
He has been running since 1979 when, while in the Navy and working as a part-time waiter in Charleston, S.C., Gibson met a husband and wife who were avid runners. The couple always seemed so calm and content that he decided to give running a try.
Gibson started jogging a mile whenever he felt like he needed a workout, and in five weeks he was running in a 9.3-mile race.
"I just got hooked," he said. "I thought that was the greatest thing to do."
Running helped him train for a 1,500-mile bike tour to Florida he was planning to undertake before entering Virginia Tech.
He decided to give up the bike tour after getting hit by cars three times while riding. Miraculously, he was not seriously injured, although his bike was totaled.
In the 1980s, Gibson participated in numerous triathlons, which include running, biking and swimming. He did not excel at swimming, so he turned his main focus to running.
A two-year stint as manager of a fitness center in the Kuwait Hilton, following graduation with degrees in nutrition and exercise physiology, enabled Gibson to put everything he learned into practice.
Gibson spent all of his spare time in Kuwait training, and upon returning to the states, he found the ability within himself to compete in marathons and ultra-marathons.
"It is kind of daunting. But you progress to a certain level when you start eliminating barriers of doubt in your mind about what you can do," he said. "It's a great personal challenge."
Gibson has run a 50-mile race in about 5 hours, 50 minutes. He has competed in more than 90 ultra-marathons all over the country and abroad, winning about 30 of them, in the 1980s and 1990s.
He finished 16th, the fourth American, in the World Championship 100 K (62.1 miles) in 1991. He ran the race in 7 hours and 20 minutes and averaged 7 minutes, 13 seconds a mile.
"It was one of my better races."
Gibson always felt good at the end of a marathon, and his recovery period was faster than that of other runners. In addition to doing considerable cross training, he credits a good genetic predisposition and running style, with a foot stride that doesn't create additional stress on the joints.
He only slowed down after becoming a father 13 years ago. His goal shifted to getting the most out of his training in the least amount of time.
"The joy I got from running was minimal compared to cultivating relationships with my children and my wife."
Gibson is going to have to be even more disciplined as he trains for the Senior Olympics because he now spends much of his spare time coaching Western Pennsylvania's chapter of Team in Training.
The national group is made up of marathoners from all over the country who raise money for the Leukemia Society, more than $500 million so far, as they run.
Gibson coaches the local group almost every weekend, which takes a lot of time out of his personal training. He has 50 runners in three marathons this fall, and in August the group starts training for winter marathons.
He intends to push his pace and try to run faster than the goal to maximize his own training time, but that also takes a toll on the body. His goal is to run 5 kilometers in under 18 minutes.
Gibson thinks he'll be competitive, and he has added pressure on himself to do well.
"It basically defines my ability to coach. But I won't be disappointed if I don't win."
Running is about much more than competition to him - it's more a philosophy of life, one the whole family embraces.
Gibson and his wife, Peggy, have been running together since they met at the Executive Fitness Center in 1988.
"It's a good chance to spend time together. I've always felt it's not the destination, it's the journey that's important," he said. "It just balances out everything in my life."