90-year-old runner defeats Kalamazoo Half Marathon, sets record in age group

KALAMAZOO, Mich. — As runners pushed themselves to the limit, trying to meet their personal goals, one man was going for a record that's been forty years in the making. But that's only the half of it.

That’s because Jerry Johncock didn’t start running until he was 50-years-old. Now he smiles with every stride.

“A lot of people think that after you're 40 or 50 you can't run anymore,” Johncock said. “It took me ten years to reach my peak. I started running at 50, and I finally reached my peak when I was 60.”

It all started when Johncock’s sons wanted their dad to run a race with them in Delton, Michigan.

“In 1977, my three younger sons decided they wanted to go to an 8-mile run in Delton, I said ‘You can't do that unless you train, otherwise you'll run a mile and you'll conk out,’” Johncock said.

Johncock’s sons begged him to run the race with them.

“They said why don't you run that 8-miler with us? I said I can't get in shape in a month like you kids can. At my age, I was 49 years old. I said it'll take me a few months to get in shape. I said I'll start out next spring, and by August I'll be able to run with you,” Johncock said.

Little did Johncock know, that was only the beginning of an incredible racing career that would span five decades.

“My son finished that 8-miler, he was all fired up, and he said ‘Dad, when are we going to do the Boston Marathon?’ I said I'll never do anything like that, it sounded so impossible. But the more I ran, the easier it became,” Johncock said.

Johncock would go on to set records at races across the country, from Traverse City to Disney World in Florida.

“This picture is from the 2002 Boston marathon, I got 4th in my age group that time,” Johncock said, showing off old race photos and awards. “This one (from the Detroit Marathon) is when I was in my low 60's, 60-64. I won that race twice for my age group.”

He's accomplished more after the age of fifty than most runners in a lifetime.

“How many races? Five or six hundred. I've run 116 marathons,” Johncock said.

He believes racing is what has kept him going strong over all these years.

“It's the best thing I've ever done for my health, I haven't been sick in 10 or 15 years,” Johncock said.

Johncock ran Sunday's half-marathon, aiming to set another record.

“If I finish tomorrow, I'll have an age group record, because there is no age group over 90,” Johncock said. “Depends on whether or not I have to walk, if I keep running, I can do it in probably three hours.”

Joined by his son, Mark, on Sunday, Johncock realizes it doesn't matter how or when you start, it’s how you finish.

“It's not going to be a fast one, if I can finish I'm going to be happy, regardless of how fast,” Johncock said.

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Johncock finished 1,389th overall, finishing first (3:55:36.56) out of two total in the Men's Age 75-90 bracket in the Kalamazoo Half Marathon.