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8/7/2007 10:00:00 AM
Runners older than 70 excel at Crystal race
John Raffel
Sports Editor
CRYSTAL - Ben Chapman figures he isn't too old to run a 5-mile race.
He proved that again Saturday morning.
The 72-year-old won the 70-and-older division at the Crystal Run with a time of 43:59.9. Chapman beat Ed Kimmel, 79, who posted a 49:11.8 clocking. Both are Crystal residents.
"I've run here ever since the beginning of the race" 11 years ago, Chapman said. "Most of the time I've been first or second in my age group."
His time this year "was about 9 minutes and 20 seconds for each mile," said Chapman. "I think I could do an 8 1/2-minute mile."
At one time he ran several races during the summer.
"This is about the only one I've run the last two or three years," Chapman said. "I've done the River Bank Run in Grand Rapids."
He been running for 35 years.
"It's hard to say how much longer I'll be doing this," Chapman said. "You have to keep going."
He still runs around the Crystal area four or five times a week, about four miles each time.
"I run a lot on Colby Road," Chapman said.
The Crystal Run also had a 3-mile event. Both the men's and women's winners were 75 in that 70-and-over division - Elizabeth Updyke of Greenville in 30:14.1 and Duane Brickner from Phoenix, Ariz., who has a summer home in St. Louis, Mich., in 33:03.4.
Brickner said it was his best time ever for the Crystal competition.
"I ran it two years ago," he said. "I usually run one race a month. I also ran at Alma and Portland (Mich.). I like the course at Crystal. It's a little flatter. It's a beautiful course."
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