PROFILE--Amby Burfoot has been running for 56 years

(7-18) Amby Burfoot is 72 (Aug, 2018) and lives in Mystic CT, very close to where he did his best running 50 years ago. These days, he covers many of the same courses as a half century ago, but it takes him 50 percent longer. Burfoot won the Boston Marathon in 1968 (2:22:17), and ran 2:14:29 later that year in Fukuoka, Japan.

Amby & wife Cristina
after 2014 Boston Marathon

In 2018 Burfoot completed Boston on the 50th anniversary of his victory (and also for the sixth year in a row.) He has also finished 55 consecutive Manchester CT Road Races (4.74 miles) on Thanksgiving, winning nine times. He has run the 54-mile Comrades Marathon in So. Africa twice, and covered about 110,000 total running miles in his life.

Started running/years running? I started in 1962, so I have been running about 56 years.

Why did  you start running? I was the son of a YMCA director, and became very skilled at many sports. I dreamed of playing major league baseball or basketball. However, in high school I learned that you need more than skill; it takes speed, strength, power, muscle, which I didn’t have. Still, I wanted to be good at some sport. I switched to cross country my junior year in high school, and more or less succeeded from the get-go. I was maybe top 5 in CT xc country the fall of my senior year, and won the CT 2-mile track championship the next June in 9:39. I’ve been running ever since.

RESEARCH: Exercise Improves Cognition, Fitness, Endurance, Balance Of Subjects Over 60

(8-18) A recent study looked at the effect of exercise training on cognition, fitness, muscle endurance, and balance of subjects over 60 with mild cognitive impairment. The study used a randomized, controlled protocol (RCT), considered to be the "gold standard" for such research.

The authors concluded that the (very moderate) exercise training program "improved cognitive function, muscle endurance, aerobic conditioning, and balance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment."

The paper was published in the Journal of Geriatric Physical Therapy. Click here for more.

PROFILE--Gail Waesche Kislevitz has been running for 50 years

(7-18) Gail Waesche Kislevitz was born September 29,

Finishing 2014 Boston Marathon.

1951. A Libra, she likes to keep her life balanced and running is a big part of that.  She grew up in Oradell, New Jersey, and spent her summers in New London at the family home on Long Island Sound. It was there on the beach that she watched her older brothers who ran cross-country and track for River Dell High School, run sprints in the sand. She wanted to do the same thing, to feel the wind and splash of the surf, to push herself and come back sweaty and jump in the water for a cool down. As girls back in those days were not encouraged to run, she started running under cover of darkness when she was sixteen, the summer of1968. She pulled on her Keds and took the family dog with her as her first running partner. And she never stopped. She’s run 26 marathons, did a half Ironman, and continues to get a thrill every time she steps out the door for a run. She’s not a streaker, doesn’t hold a record, isn’t fast, but she is a lifetime runner.

Started running/years: August of 1968, 50 years. And counting.

Why did you start running? I was a tomboy and loved