NEWS, VIEWS, TRENDS and ORDINARY RUNNERS doing EXTRAORDINARY THINGS
Age is no barrier for Hilary Wharam, the octogenarian aiming to run 300 marathons
WHEN IT’S SUGGESTED TO HILARY WHARAM, 81, that running a marathon most weekends is a fairly extraordinary thing to do, she isn’t convinced. ‘If you were a long-distance walker, you’d walk that distance most weekends,’ she says. ‘All I’m doing is running at a relatively fast walking pace. When you look at it like that, it’s doable.’
It’s this can-do attitude that has seen the Horsforth Harrier hoover up age-group prizes since she started running as a sprightly 55-year-old. Before then, Wharam had been a keen cyclist, regularly racking up 100 miles of a weekend with her husband. When he decided to hang up his bike, Wharam turned to running – and it was love at first mile.
‘I experienced success in my first ever race,’ she says. ‘I didn’t know about age categories at the time, so we didn’t stay for the presentation afterwards. A couple of days later, I got a knock on the door and they handed me the female V55 trophy.’
So started a remarkable running journey. Wharam continued to win prizes and took part in the first of 14 London Marathons in 1997. Almost three decades of running later, her new goal is to run 300 marathons. ‘I’ve run 175 so far, but I want to aim big,’ she says. ‘I’m limited now [in terms of the marathons I can run], as I need to start earlier than the other runners. It takes me up to eight hours now, particularly if it’s a trail, but if I start at 6am, I don’t keep the marshals out.’
Wharam has seen running change dramatically since she first started, not least with the advent of GPS running watches. Wharam’s joined the trend and currently sports a Garmin Instinct Solar, but her marathon fuelling strategy remains something of a throwback: a packet of crisps, three sweets, a bottle of water, a piece of cheese, three little packets of biscuits, some pretzels, a Mars bar and a Fudge bar. ‘I’m out for eight hours and I eat all the way,’ she says.
Running as an octogenarian, of course, comes with its challenges. ‘Arthritis is catching me up,’ she says. ‘My stride is painfully short. I run with a walking pole to try to keep my back straight. I’ve got spinal stenosis, and if I run bent over I get grief. So I take meds when I run, and spare meds with me for a marathon.’
But it will take more than some aches and pains to stop Wharam
