Q and A with John Hosner September 8th, 2006
Brittney Davis, CT Staff Writer
Q: When did you start running?
A: I didn’t really run before high school [in Illinois]. I was no star in high school. As a matter of fact, I didn’t win a race in high school. I had a teammate who would always beat me so the best I could do was second.
Q: What motivated you to begin running again in the 70s?
A: I was always involved in sports. I was the intramural boxing champion for the 145-pound class at Michigan State. Once I got older, I played in softball and racquetball tournaments, so I started running to be in condition for racquetball. I began running at noon with [Virginia Tech] faculty and I ran really well. The group invited me to the State Masters Cross Country Championship in Charlottesville, Va., because they knew the guy that always won it and thought I could beat him. It was a 10K race. I won the race and set a new state record for the 50 to 54 age group. After that, I continued running competitively.
Q: What problems did you encounter when you began running again?
A: I started off slowly. I thought running a mile would be hard work, but I worked up to it. I ran the Boston Marathon twice and the New York Marathon once. I also ran the Charlotte Marathon. I had never run more than 15 miles before that, and that was 26.2 miles!
Q: Did you have any role models within the sport that inspired you?
A: I wouldn’t say I had an exact role model, but I admired a lot of the outstanding runners like Frank Shorter, who won the Olympic marathon.
Q: I understand that you run up to 35 miles each week. Where is your favorite place to run?
A: I usually run a 5-mile loop. I go to the Frat houses up around Hethwood, go around the pond and then go out to Smithfield. I run on Huckleberry Trail sometimes. Over time, I have run all over town. It gives me a chance to see what’s going on in town.
Q: How do you prepare for each race?
A: I tend to stay away from heavy foods. I eat foods easy to digest: vegetables, rice, carbohydrates; I don’t eat anything 4 hours before the race. To physically prepare, I rest. But these things are also mental. I use mental processing like visualization. Visualization is seeing yourself run the race before you run and, of course, winning. Basketball players visualize making baskets; I visualize winning races. Not everyone believes in [visualization], but I used to do it for big races. I don’t do it as much because I have never been beaten by anyone that I haven’t beaten if we raced more than once. I haven’t lost over 10 races in 30 years.
Q: Do you ever feel discrimination because of your age?
A: I hear a lot of people talk about [discrimination]. I knew one individual that would never tell his age because he thought he would be discriminated against. I’m not very conscious of it. It’s not a concern. I read about it -- how people are discriminated against. So far, I’m in good health. I don’t worry about it.
Q: How do the other runners react when they see you at the starting line?
A: Some races have a lot of older people in it. I ran a race in February with 13 people who were 80 years and older. So it’s not that out of the ordinary. But for a long time, there were 35-year-olds who were out to beat me. They just singled me out to beat me and if they did, they came up to tell me!
Q: You have clearly broken the stereotype of the ideal track star. What advice would you give to others, young or old, who are interested in track and staying healthy?
A: Two things to be concerned about are what you eat and how much and whether or not you exercise on a regular basis. So many people start off exercising with good intentions and don’t keep it up. I watch saturated fats and trans fats. I look at every package in the store and I don’t eat much red meat. I eat lots of fruits and vegetables, skim milk, low fat ice cream. I stay away from fries and soft drinks; I probably only drink four to five soft drinks a year. I would just say to stay away from too many red meats and saturated fats. I don’t believe in diets. I eat everything.
Q: Do you have any goals for the future?
A: I don’t run many races anymore but my goal is to continue running until my body won’t let me anymore. I told my doctor if I drop dead on the track, fine. Drop dead running-- that’s an easy way to do it. But I’m lucky to have the right genes, very lucky.
Hosner, 81, is the retired director of the School of Forestry, now the College of Natural Resources. He recently set the world record for the 80 to 84 age group for the mile run in the 2006 USA Track and Field Southeast Region Masters at Duke University. He ran the mile in 7 minutes, 33 seconds. | 