PROFILE--Norm Goluskin has been running for 44 years

At World Masters Games,
Finland, 2009

(9-18) Norm Goluskin came late to running but made up for lost time. His father was an immigrant from Odessa, Ukraine (formerly Russia) and the focus in the household was on making a living and making sure his sons had an education. Exercise and sports were not even on his parents' radar.  But by sheer luck, Goluskin happened to be in Central Park on September 29, 1974 and saw a bunch of old guys running around the park for 26.2 miles and thought, “Heck I can that.” Historical note: On that day, the late Norbert Sander and Kathrine Switzer became the only New York City residents to win the New York City Marathon.

Childhood: I was raised in The Bronx in a middle-class housing project. Well, at least we aspired to middle class. The project was built around a playground with a softball field, handball courts, basketball courts and even a paddle tennis court. In addition, there were regular games of ring-a-levio, a game born on the streets of New York City. My early years were largely spent playing these street sports. I ran around a lot and I was one of the faster kids in the neighborhood, but I never participated in races or on a track team.

After high school my participation in these street sports fell by the wayside. I spent time in the Marine Corps, then went on to college at night and worked full time during the day for an advertising agency.  There was almost no time for recreation. Once I finished undergraduate school, I started playing tennis and skiing.

Started running? I was 36 (born September, 1938 - just turned 80!).  I started running somewhat regularly in advance of the 1976 New York City Marathon, the first 5-borough marathon and my first marathon. I was 38 when I ran that one. For those of you who are running historians, Bill Rodgers won that marathon in 2:10 (a 4:58 pace) and Miki Gorman in 2:39 (6:04 pace).

Why did you start running? In September of 1974 I was in Central Park and happened upon the New York City Marathon. I was astonished that anyone could run 26.2 miles.  I was 36 at the time, and was inspired and started putting in a few runs a week.  I found I was better at

PROFILE--Eve Pell has been running for 40+ years

(9-18) Eve Pell, 81, has won gold medals in international senior track and field competitions, including the recent World Masters Games in Malaga, Spain. There she finished first in the W80 cross-country event. Closer to home, Pell has won the storied, grueling (and age-sex handicapped) Dipsea trail race, crossing the finish line first in 1989 when she was 52.

Pell is also an acclaimed author and journalist. She reported for three award-winning PBS documentaries and was published in The Nation, Ms., and Runners’ World.  She is the author of,  "Love, Again - The Wisdom of Unexpected Romance, and the nationally acclaimed "We Used To Own The Bronx,” a memoir of growing up an east coast debutante in a family of wealth and privilege and escaping that world to pursue and report on social activism. It was a finalist for “Best Books 2010” award.

Pell lives in Mill Valley, CA, where she runs with the Tamalpa Runners.

Started running: April, 1977.  I was forty. (Born in 1937) 

Why did you start running? I was raised on Long Island, New York, in a family that valued athletics more than academics. We had horses, and I was taken out of school for a few weeks in the fall so I could join my mother and stepfather when they went to Maryland for foxhunting. I rode from the age of 2 or 3, competed in horse shows, and grew up learning how