PROFILE--Frank Handelman has been running for 57 years

Frank Handelman, a criminal defense attorney with a competitive edge, is a lifelong runner. He uses the same winning techniques competing on the road and track and in the courtroom, and has had great success at both. Handelman was also a member of the legendary New York Pioneer Club and trained with Ed Levy and Joe Yancey, its founders.

Started running/years running? I have been running for 57 years. I began in the fall of 1961, my junior year in high school in Cleveland, Ohio.

Why did you start running? I knew I was fast running on Little League teams. Believe me, it was my only baseball skill. In my junior year I went out for the cross country team. After a few weeks of training, I began to move up from the back of the pack and by the end of the season was second on the team.  I found I loved

PROFILE--Woody Harrell has been running for 50+ years

Blessing of the Athletes,
pre-Boston 2014

(10-18) Woody Harrell fell in love with running during summers on the beaches of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. However, a general lack of natural speed meant no coach, high school or college, would ever look at him as any sort of track prospect.  They should have. In 1975, he ran a 2:36:27 at Boston at age 28. Harrell identifies himself as a runner before anything else. He lives in Corinth, MS.

Started running: June 1, 1964. I’m 71 (DOB 7-47) 

Why did you start running?  My running career started the day I read an article in the June 1, 1964, issue of Sports Illustrated about American expatriate Buddy Edelen, who had run the first- and third-fastest marathons of all time, and had just returned from England to win the US Olympic marathon trial at Yonkers, New York, by over 20 minutes.

I was fascinated! I was amazed. I was inspired! So much so, I put on my tennis shoes and headed out the door to run five miles for the first time in my life. In fact, to run further than a mile for the first time ever…

When I made the half-way turn-around at the extreme edge of my hometown, both the excitement and the adrenaline were long gone; and by the time I got back home, I was dehydrated, physically spent, and had two feet resembling raw meat, with blisters on top of blisters. I collapsed into bed and didn’t try to crawl out again until it was time to go back to school on Monday. But in spite of the experience, the running bug had bitten…

In grad school (sandwiched around a stint in the army), I encountered a group of ex-collegian runners looking to extend their running careers in pursuit of the ’72 Olympic marathon trials. Encouraged by their support, and more importantly