CHARLESTON -- Paul Spinner was a late bloomer when it came to the running scene.
Running never really interested the 74-year-old Paris man earlier in his life. He was a softball player at heart but the sport came with an expiration date.
"I got too old," Spinner said. "You can run forever, but you can't play softball forever."
So, at 53, Spinner started registering for 5K races, 10k races, and other racing events eventually including to half-marathons and marathons.
After two decades and more than 1,000 races under his belt, Spinner hit several milestones and got some acclaim in the process. Spinner was the 2009 national champion in the 2,000-meter steeplechase, a favorite event of his where runners face water pits and barriers.
He would later win the bronze medal in 2012.
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And Saturday, he hit another milestone. Spinner completed his 100th half-marathon at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center's Race for All Paces in 2 hours and 19 minutes.
It was a typical but humid day for a race. The half-marathon course offered up several hills, with a temperatures sitting in the high 60s in morning, but that is where Spinner likes it.
"I am getting old; we don't like cold," he said.
It wasn't his fastest run. Spinner noted he took it a little easier for future races, but he isn't expecting to break any personal records.
"I am not getting any faster," he noted.
But, it was a big achievement all the same, albeit not an out-of-the-ordinary race, according to Spinner.
He has participated in half-marathons across 25 states. Spinner said he best remembers a University of Illinois half-marathon where participants finished by running to the middle of the field with their face displayed on the jumbotron.
"That was a nice one," he said.
Spinner will be running with his son in another half-marathon in Indianapolis. He said he will keep going as long as he can until he has to stop.
More seasoned runners like Spinner as well as more amateur runners came out to get a little exercise Saturday.
Sporting red bandannas, the Dowden family including Emmy, Andrew, Jordan, 9, and Jamison, 7, from Oakland took part in the 5k.
Running is the family's outlet for exercise. Emmy Dowden said, "We just got in the habit of running together." She had run with her mother at these events.
The rest of family joined in. Emmy said they try to go to about three to four races a year. Jordan was one of the first of his age group and the first of his family to make it across the finish line.
Competitive by nature, he said he likes the challenge that comes with running.
"I like to test myself," he said.
Nowadays, Emmy's motivations have shifted.
"I can eat more and not really feel as bad about it," she said. "That is what keeps me motivated."
This year, Run for All Paces organizers honored first responders in the area with plaques. Those first responders who participated in the events also got blue hats, and the medals handed out were reminiscent of police badges.
Sgt. John Hedges of the Mattoon Police Department said it was a nice gesture.
"It is always nice to be recognized by the community," he said. "You don't do it for the recognition, but it is nice to be appreciated."
Hedges ran with his 10-year-old daughter Alaina, who he said has become an avid runner. He said they try to go out to several races throughout the year.