Column: Shorelines

Courtesy of Dave Stephenson

Dave Stephenson won his age group in the SunTrust Richmond Marathon.

When Dave Stephenson started hitting the road nearly six years ago, he had no idea how it would change his life.

He ran as a way to "get in shape." The first day he laced up his running shoes he never thought about racing, let alone winning races, but the rhythmic pounding of feet on pavement has a way of changing the cadence of your life, Stephenson said.

Now, Stephenson not only is a champion (he won his age group in a recent marathon), he is healthier.

Stephenson, 65, does most of his running around his Moneta neighborhood. When he first started running, he could barely sustain a jog.

"I couldn't run a-fourth of a mile," he recalled. "So I started by adding very brief running intervals in a three-mile walk."

To those who would like to take up the sport, Stephenson suggested starting slowly and visiting a doctor before starting an exercise regimen. As you progress, increase the distance covered at a very slow rate, he recommended. Stephenson said he has learned from experience that progressing too quickly can cause injury. Plus, he added, the older you get, the longer it takes to recover.

"Increase your mileage gradually as you get older -- never more than 10 percent in one week. And as you get older, I would be even more conservative."

To see Stephenson now you would never know that at age 59 he carried 80 extra pounds.

In addition to dropping the extra pounds, there has been another benefit of running, Stephenson said.

"I was on cholesterol medicines. Running lowered my cholesterol and now I'm off those medicines. My resting heart rate is in the 40s and I have a good feeling about my body," he said.

A part of Stephenson's running routine that never varies is stretching. He religiously stretches before and after a run. Stretching helps ward off injuries and is especially important for older runners whose bodies have lost some flexibility. Stephenson said the few extra minutes stretching adds to his exercise routine is well worth it because being sidelined with an injury is depressing.

As Stephenson started to improve at running, he needed a challenge so he started running local races such as the grueling Lynchburg 10-miler (they call it the "Hill City" for a reason.). Then he decided to run the SunTrust Richmond Marathon.

"It was something I just wanted to do," Stephenson recalled. "The first one I did I just wanted to complete it. Even the beginning training schedules are daunting. It's one of those things that is harder to think about than do."

Stephenson finished that first Richmond Marathon in a little more than four hours. Then he started looking at his time in the 10-miler and at the marathon and noticed he was not too far off from the winners of his age group. That changed Stephenson's mindset from finishing to winning his age group.

In 2009, he won his age group, 65-69, at the Lynchburg 10-miler.

"That race is a bear," he said. "It is really hilly and the biggest hill is at the end of the race."

The weather and his conditioning aligned in November of 2009 for Stephenson to run a personal best at the Richmond Marathon. He ran the 26.2 miles in 3:37:40 to win his age group.

"The last six miles were an absolute nightmare this year," he recalled. "The guy I beat was four minutes ahead of me at that point. I ended up beating him by 1:20. I kept the same pace all through the race. Part of that was conditioning and part of that was we had great weather for the race."

Stephenson wants to run the Chicago Marathon, the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington, D.C., and plans to register for the United States' premiere race, The Boston Marathon, in 2011.

"You don't really run marathons for health," said Stephenson. "I could probably run a-third of the miles I run and get the same health benefits. I like the challenge of the race."

Stephenson said he is proof that: "No matter how old you are when you pick [running] up, you'll improve for 10 years."

Although he said he has never experienced a runner's high, it is the good feelings he has when he is not running that keeps him on the road.

"I tend to go with the theory 'use it or lose it.' You can't control how much time you have in this life, but you can impact the quality of the time you have and that's what I've been trying to do."

For Stephenson there is still a lot of road to run.