At age 62 Chris Hegg of Grand Marais has proven to be not only a durable long distance runner, but somehow resilient to the wrath of time. Hegg has placed 5th in the Minnesota Runner of the Year 60-64 age group
Since turning 60 Hegg has managed to keep his mile time at about 5:53; his 5K time at about 20:30; his 5 mile at 33:40; his 10K at 42 minutes; and his half marathon at 1:34:30. All remarkable times even for a much younger runner, but as one ages one normally slows down. At least that’s the way it works for the rest of us.
When asked what his secret was, Hegg replied, “I try to keep my mileage around 25 miles per week and then I cross train by biking, skiing and swimming.”
The longtime high school cross country running, skiing, and track coach also attributes holding his times down to keeping his weight down.
Hegg isn’t built like the typical long distance runner. He’s not 6 feet tall and 130 pounds. Instead he’s 5’ 8” and thick as a brick.
“I used to weigh 185 pounds, but I am down to 160, my high school weight. I still could lose a couple of pounds, but I am pretty close to being as light as I can get,” Hegg told the News-Herald.
Hegg competes in the Minnesota Runner of the Year age group races and his times and places this year in five events placed him 5th in the 60-64 age group, only two points behind third place while he was 10 points ahead of the sixth place finisher.
The Minnesota Distance Running Association (MDRA) sponsors the event.
There are 12 distances for which an individual can score points in the MDRA series. Total points are picked from the highest 5 scores in 5 different distances. Hegg doesn’t bother running marathons anymore (26 miles 385 yards) because he can’t put the mileage in without fear of injury.
“My marathon running days are behind me,” he said.
With the 2014 MDRA series just finished, Hegg is already eying the list of runners in his age group who finished ahead of him this year.
“Every year I finish ahead of a couple of runners who beat me the year before, but then there are new runners that come into my age group. Next year it will be Duluth’s Jess Koski and former Esko runner Alan Zetterlund (now living in St. Cloud) who will be turning 60. They both usually beat me, but you never know. It’s always fun to compete and see who’s out there.”
Leave a Reply