 posted Sep-27-2007 02:39 PM
   
Thought you all might enjoy reading this article taken from the Wichita Eagle newspaper.ksrunr
His speed limit isn't set at 70
You see a man running up the steep Soap Box Derby hill at Oliver and George Washington and you have an immediate thought:
What's wrong with that guy? It's the dead of summer and most people are sitting at home being air conditioned. Not Bob Lida. He's running up the hill, which can be as much as 300 meters. And he's running as far as he can because that's what Lida has always done. For decade after decade until now, this moment, when he can proclaim himself the Fastest 70-year-old in the World. Earlier this month, he won the 100-, 200- and 400-meter races at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Riccione, Italy. His times: 13.26 in the 100, 26.80 in the 200 (.23 off the world age-group record) and 1:01 in the 400 (.09 off the world mark). Lida has been running ever since he can remember, including his years at Kansas, where he was the Big Eight Indoor champion in the 400 meters. The difference with Lida is that he's never stopped running and he probably never will. You should see the guy. He probably gets carded at nightclubs, as if he'd ever go into one. He smoked for eight years early in his life, a regret that has lingered. Otherwise, he's kept his 6-foot-2, 180-pound frame free of intoxicants and pollutants. "The interesting thing about track is that you get out of it what you put into it," said Lida, who has cut back on his advertising business in the past several years so he can devote more time to running. "I train harder now than ever. Five days a week -- two on the track and three at the Soap Box Derby hill." Lida has tried distance running, including three marathons. For him, though, there's nothing like running as hard and as fast as he can for a brief amount of time. Who needs 26 miles when you can get through 400 meters in close to a minute? Still. "He's an animal," sometimes training partner Larry Staton said of Lida. "I try to keep up with him, but I can't." Staton, 58, is a financial advisor who competes in Masters meets. When he looks 12 years down the road, though, he's not sure he can still be doing what Lida is doing. At least not as well. "Bob's just one of those people who has to remain active," Staton said. "He's competitive. He pushes me really hard. I'm getting ready to put a picture of Bob Lida on my computer as the screen saver. It's him or my grandson, who's there now. But if I can figure out how to do a split screen, I'll do it." Lida has battled injuries most of the past year and fell, nearly face first, on the track during the KU Relays in March because of a bad knee. He hurt his shoulder in the fall and, to those who saw it, it appeared as if Lida's running days might be over. Hah. His knee got better. His shoulder recovered after three months of rest. And Lida was back on the track with more determination than ever. He once read in a magazine that people 60 should not train hard every day, but space out their strenuous workouts. Lida felt like canceling his subscription. He has never backed off, never taken an easier route. The reason he's still running as well as he is, Lida believes, is because of his work ethic. If his body tells him to take it easy, he does. But unless he's hurting, he's sprinting. He gets in his speed work on the track inside Cessna Stadium and he builds his strength on the hill, where he'll spend up to three hours on repetitions. "You can't get into good, competitive shape running every other day," Lida said. One of his biggest goals is to run a 400 in less than a minute. He's oh so close. "I've got to get a second off of it somewhere," Lida said. "I'll probably try and do it indoors somewhere. I think I would have done it this year if I hadn't had the leg problems." A few months back, Lida competed in the National Senior meet in Louisville, Ky., where runners, jumpers and throwers of all ages gathered. Lida has this notion that he wants to run until he looks so bad, shuffling along in misery, that one of his family members literally pulls him off the track. In Louisville, he watched as the oldest participants in the meet ran sprints. There were men in their 90s and Lida looked for the slightest shuffle in any of them. He saw none. Instead, he saw runners, including a 96-year-old, turning on their after burners in the home stretch of the 800 meters. "They were running hell-bent-for-leather," Lida said. "None of them were shuffling. They were running." Lida plans to be doing the same in 20 years. He's just a pup. Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz co-hosts "Sports Daily" from 9-11 a.m. weekdays on KFH, 1240-AM and 98.7-FM. Reach him at 316-268-6597 or blutz@wichitaeagle.com. Recent Comments I seen that 'ol boy and he can really get after it, boogety,...
what an inspiration to get out there and live.
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