Jim Forshee has been a fixture at races for the last thirty years. He appears somewhere locally almost every weekend to compete with many of the other elder statesmen of running. At 77, Forshee can look back and feel blessed to have had the genetic makeup to stay healthy and competitive.

After completing trade school at Henry Ford High School he went straight into the Marines Corps on his nineteenth birthday.  While stationed in Okinawa he discovered he enjoyed running. It was the easiest way for him to stay fit and focused. Years later he watched his daughter Ann compete in races. He told her he had the same genetics and could probably do well if he competed.  It was her urging to put up or shut up that forced him to prove to her that he could do it. 

Then one Easter morning while visiting Raleigh, NC he finally decided to go over to a track and see what he could do. Now Forshee says, "Running has been a big part of my life. Not only do I enjoy the exercise part of it, I also enjoy the competitive part (I've competed in over 800 races)".

Forshee has run all twenty-seven Crim 10 Mile races in Flint. He ran his first ten of thirteen marathons under three hours. He has personal records of 2:47 for the marathon and 35:42 for the 10km at age 56. At age 50 he set a world record of 10:33 for the 2 mile and at age 60 her ran almost 6 minutes per mile at the Crim. Not long ago he finished second in the World Veterans 10km race in Brisbane, Australia.

He is accustomed to traveling. He has visited all fifty states and has made fourteen travel films that include places like the Canadian Rockies, Italy, Switzerland and Japan. He has given a presentation of his Japan film (in 35 mm cinemascope) 575 times. Thirty years ago he appeared on TV with one of his films on the George Perot Travel program.

He was born, raised and still lives in Ann Arbor.  He loves running everyday by himself in the Barton Hills. He never does speed work.  He prefers to race instead. Race directors are always aware of him because he constantly advocates more age groups for the seniors. It's not that he wants more medals or awards because his house is already packed with them. He just wants races to give recognition to those people who are still competing over the age of seventy-five. He says they need just as much encouragement as the younger stallions.

Through Forshee's 50's, 60's and early 70's, he put in as many as twelve miles a day in training. Not until a torn meniscus injury three years ago, was he was forced to cut back to thirty-five miles a week. His diet hasn't changed much either. Breakfast consists of a wide array of fruit in a bowl that barely leaves room for cereal. Lunch is more hit and miss. He has been eating the same dinner every night for last twenty years. Goulash which consists of everything from lima and kidney beans to ground turkey and corn leaves him well nourished and ready for his standard nine hours of sleep.

Forshee is a testament that it's never too late to start exercising and also that age is no reason to stop exercising either.

The 60-69 Michigan Grand Masters racing team consisting of Doug Goodhue, Jim Carlton & Gerard Malaczynski returned from the USATF National Masters 8K Cross Country Championship in Rochester, NY this past Sunday (Nov.2) with a National Championship. The 60-69 team of  destroyed the competition, winning the team race by 9 minutes! Doug, Jim & Gerard finished 2, 3, 4 separated by only 2 seconds!

Events worth attending:

Nov. 9 - 25^th Annual Big Bird 10k and 4km in Roseville, 10 am, call 586 445-5480

Nov 16 - Ann Arbor Iron Turkey Classic 5km and 10km in Hudson Mills Metro Park, 9 am, call Tortoise and Hare 734 623 9640.

Nov. 22 - Get Ready to Pig Out 10 Miler (Winter Fun Run Series), Huron High School Ann Arbor, 8 am, call Kathleen Gina 734 657-0214