Sartell man, 90, has set multiple state records
By Bill Vossler
Alan Phillips of Sartell has run a variety of races, from the 50 meter dash to marathons. So what? You might ask. That doesn’t seem that uncommon among runners.
True. But are they, like Alan, 90 years old, and the holder of a slew of Minnesota State records for his age?
Alan didn’t start running until mid-life. “I was a sprinter, not a distance runner when I was a kid, but I didn’t compete for any school I attended. Nothing until I was 52, when I was obese, so I had to do something to lose weight and stay off alcohol. It was a way to start getting in shape, and avoiding my addictions, so I got into running as a way of coping with my life.”
But Alan didn’t stick with it and he didn’t keep track of his pace. “So the obesity returned. Even after I ditched alcohol and tobacco at 51 and 52 respectively, I still had an issue with food. Dieting alone didn’t work, so I ran,” he said. “After I lost the extra weight I could race again, and this time ran better. This time I knew better than to mess around, so now I track my pace constantly on my Garmin, and run regularly. The more I ran the more I found out I could run pretty good.”
Alan said he doesn’t run every day. “It would wear me out. I also seldom run on consecutive days, because I found it takes longer to regain my strength as I’ve gotten older.”
Surprisingly, Alan said he’s never gotten the “runner’s high” that runners often talk about. In fact, he said he doesn’t enjoy running. “In a race I am really pushing myself, so I suffer, and the longer the race the greater the suffering, and I don’t enjoy it until it is over.”
He added that a person needs a reason to endure suffering. “As Victor Frankl says in ‘Man’s Search for Meaning,’ and in my case the meaning was staying in shape and feeling good about myself. After I started winning in my age group at the state level at age 77, I had an even stronger reason to suffer.”
On the other hand, he listens to his body. “If I go too hard, my heart warns me to slow down, and I always heed it’s message. Likewise, I am constantly aware of the need to conserve my body’s normal functioning, and one reason I no longer do marathons is that the distance is really too much for me.”
In the beginning, Alan said he just ran, but not in races. “But I started wondering if I could beat the good local runners. At 74 after I finished two minutes behind my daughter in a half marathon at Monterey, Calif., I didn’t think much about it until she said, ‘Dad, you finished second in your age group.’ That’s when I learned I could challenge the local St. Cloud area hot shots in that 70-plus range. Two years later I was beating them all and competing at the Minnesota state level in the 75-79 age group. So I did get hooked on the long runs. It’s a great feeling of accomplishment, but only afterward.”
Alan has enjoyed that feeling of accomplishment many times. Over the last three years he has set Minnesota state road race records in his age group in the one mile, 5k, 8k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon, 20 mile, and 25k.
He runs with The Saint Cloud River Runners, who compete with other clubs in the state as the EnduRUNce Shop racing team. “The women’s team often wins it in Wanda Gau’s age group - currently, the 60 - 69 age group.”
He said he always did vary the pace of his runs. “But if I work too hard it tears me up, and if I don’t work hard enough it’s not good for training. So I sort of ride the edge. I just go out and run, and since I turned 80 I have to take a break. I could run faster, but I smoked, so my lungs are slowing me down, but not my legs.”
He runs year-round, he said. “Same in the winter as in summer, except I bundle up, which slows me down, but I can still breathe fine, even with a face mask, and I move fine. If it’s below zero or the wind chill is great, I won’t run. But I usually run three or four times a week.”
His shoes are generally “Pretty much off the rack. As long as they cushion me enough and don’t make it harder on my legs, that’s fine. I also usually find someone to run with. Most of the time it’s my fiancé, Sharon Carter. At first I was faster, and then she caught up and beat me. Now she has an injury, so right now we’re about the same pace. But eventually she’ll probably beat me again,” he laughed.
Alan, who taught philosophy at St. Cloud State University from 1966-1996, is also a choir director at the St. Cloud Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. “When I moved back to St. Cloud from Minneapolis I started the choir again, and on a good day we have six or seven people, no tenors or basses, but we do stuff that is interesting. We have mostly soprano voices, so I can sing either alto or tenor to help out, and we learn the parts a capella, as our accompanist is only around from September to December, so we sing a capella until he gets back. I also rearrange the music so we can sing it, changing the notes so three parts can sing it instead of four. It’s not that hard. I don’t have to change it that much.”
He is also a prolific writer, having penned 35 science fiction books in a series with names like “Escape from Vulcan,” and “Determined to Be Free,” both with “Woman of the World,” subtitles).
Alan said one thing he’s learned through his running is to tolerate pain. “When I’m working hard, that’s what I have to do for the whole race. I did a 5k in Royalton last Saturday and worked hard for the whole thing, and ran it in 35 minutes and change, which is a state age record.”
Alan is more sensitive now to how parts of his body are affected when he runs. “If I ache somewhere after pushing myself, I need to know what to do about it. I’m generally careful, and I’ve learned how not to fall by checking out the road surfaces and so on. I don’t like to run on snow, or ice if I can avoid it. I make an effort to keep track of the terrain so I don’t stumble.”
But it still happens. “One morning running with my friend Pat Ross in the dark, I tripped over a cement parking piece, so I’ve learned what to watch out for.”
He has only fallen twice, in the summer in Minneapolis. “I broke some bones, and each cost me about four months until I could get busy training again.”
He has run three marathons. “The Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon three times. Other than that, four runners from the River Runners went to Florida and split up running a quarter of that marathon, three 50-year-old runners, and me. I ran the fourth leg of the marathon. We took fourth overall and first in our age group. That’s the only time I’ve run a marathon out of state.”
Alan’s awards are astonishing. “In distance running each year USA Track & Field Minnesota puts out a state runner award in each age group. I started getting that award the year I turned 78, and have gotten it nine times for my age group. In 2014, I won it in two age groups, 75-79 and 80-84, since my birthday is in June.”
Alan said he now prefers shorter runs. “That means sprints. The year I turned 85, in 2019, I was in the National Championships running the 100, 200, and 400 meters, and won all three races. Only a few people my age or near it participate in those races, so there’s not a large field of entries. I don’t compete often in track meets, but I get in at least four every year - two each indoor and outdoor. I always do the 100, 200 and 400 meters, and the 50 meters, which I did in the Senior Games. I was always a better sprinter than distance runner but never took the time to do it, and so I was 79 when I started the shorter ones.”
Alan said that people find his running interesting. “I don’t know why, but they ask my age and are shocked that I’m as old as am and still doing it. They mostly ask me about the races and meets that I run.”
The best part of running, Alan said, “Is it has kept me in shape and healthy. It’s nice to win races, but it’s more nice to be healthy at 90. We evolved as a running species, so the advice I would give to anyone who wants to run is to run. Just do it.”
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