At age 36, Santa Maria’s Guillermo Medina isn’t running away from anything. In fact, he’s running toward something.
Medina hopes to become the first 100-year-old to run a 26-mile marathon—and he’s still got plenty of time to practice.
So far, Medina has run a total of 18 marathons, beginning when he accompanied his wife in practice for a marathon she ran.
“I enjoyed running, so I started with a 100-mile marathon,” Medina said.
Since he caught the 100-mile bug, Medina has finished all of his races in less than 24 hours. His fastest run took 15 hours; his slowest time, he said, is 23 hours, 52 minutes.
North Face, a sporting apparel company, features Medina on its company’s website. There, he explains why he loves running the “ultramarathon.”
“Why should I quit at 26 miles when I know I can run four times that much?”
he asks.
In late October, Medina took first place at the Javelina Jandred race in Fountain Hills, Ariz. In addition to the win, Medina placed first in the San Diego 100 in June. He placed fourth in the Angeles 100
in August.
Medina hopes to run in a marathon in France someday. His dream race would take him through three countries: Switzerland, Italy, and France.
Until then, Medina will keep practicing, and—who knows?—he might even inspire a bunch of people to run with him, too.
This article appears in Nov 18-25, 2010.