Marathon man proving age is relative

Retirement, to many, may mean slowing down. To Riverton resident Doug Carlile, it was simply motivation to keep on running.

“I didn’t want to get fat and lazy,” he said. “I wanted to keep active.” And since July 2010, Carlile has done just that.

He is currently10 months into a year-long goal of running one long distance race a month for 12 months.

Last March, he began the quest with the Riverton City Half Marathon followed by April’s Salt Lake City Marathon and the Provo City Half Marathon in May.

In June, he participated in the Ragnar Wasatch Back Relay from Logan to Park City with his team “Family Friends and Fools” and ran in Salt Lake’s State Capital Half Marathon in July.

In August, Carlile matched his personal best in Springville’s Moonlight Half Marathon in a time of two hours and 5 minutes. He also ran in the Hood to Coast Relay – from Mt. Hood to Seaside, Ore. – with Western Family Foods Black Sheep.

He participated in the Top of Utah Marathon in Logan in September followed by the Halloween Half Marathon in Provo in October. The next month, he ran the Mesquite Half Marathon.

In December, Carlile decided against traveling to a warm climate to find a race and instead ran 145 laps at the J.L. Sorenson Recreation Center – the equivalent of a half marathon. He also competed in the St. George Half Marathon in January.

The 70-year-old has another reason to keep up his running regimen of three days a week for eight to 12 miles a day. Twelve years ago, he suffered a stroke.

His doctor told him, “You have the heart of a 20-year-old. Keep on doing whatever it is you’re doing.” Since his high school track days, Carlile had continued staying active and competed in several long-distance races, including the Hood to Coast Relay in August 1999, just two months before his stroke.

“When a cardiologist tells you that if you follow a training regimen religiously, you will be healthy, that is heartfelt motivation,” Carlile said. “My next race was the Hood to Coast Relay in August of 2000 and I did it, and it felt great.”

Carlile has plans to continue training and competing in one race a month well beyond the goal he initially set.

“I’ll just continue running because I’m too old and stupid to quit,” he said.