David Blaylock, 80, of Salt Lake City won the USA Track and Field 100-mile National Championships for his age group, but he says he's just doing what he loves.
"It didn't seem like much to me with all those people in front of me," he joked. "There were five of us in our age group who started the race. We were all just plugging along, and we were all facing issues. It was our goal for everyone to get to the end, and four of us did. The reason I was able to finish as fast as I did was because I was chasing 'Fast Eddie.'"
The course is 85 laps of a 1.17-mile loop around a park that consists mostly of pavement and some flat dirt. Due to the nature of the course, it allows for runners to have a crew nearby during the whole race who can see where they are in comparison to other runners. Blaylock explained that while it was helpful to have his crew let him know how close he was to Rousseau, it really came down to grit and willpower.
Blaylock said that it was a surprise to him when he beat Rousseau because he has never really seen himself as much of a runner.Blaylock grew up in Orem, and graduated from Orem High School, but said he never ran on the school's track or cross country teams. In fact, it was after he raised his seven children and was well into grandparenthood that he began running.
"I did my first Wasatch 100 in 1990, and I did it for a lot of years," he said. "I have run 60 100-mile races, and when you get to my age, you're just kind of hanging on, hoping that this won't be the last one. I really am one fall away from being put in a rest home."Blaylock takes it all in stride, putting in upwards of 70 miles a week. According to those who know him, however, he isn't one to talk about his accomplishments.
"We talk about running a lot, and he shares very little about himself and his accomplishments. He's always complimenting others on what they are doing. Always positive, never a negative word about anyone. I don't know how he does it."
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