At 71 years old, Ron Legg has a long list of accomplishments under his belt.
He’s been married to his wife, Audrey, for 29 years, he’s successfully started and run a tree nursery from his farm the past 30 years and USA Track and Field (USATF) has recognized him for a list of his achievements in running.
But the Beach City resident is far from winding down.
On Saturday, Legg will attempt to add to those achievements by breaking the record for the fastest 20k run by people 70 and older at this year’s Akron Marathon, which starts at 7 a.m.
Legg has been running since he was in grade school, but life happenings caused a few 10-year hiatuses, whether it was to focus on his career as an auto mechanic or to start an evergreen tree nursery and build a house on his 100-acre farm.
The long breaks haven’t been a problem to Legg, though. He enjoys staying busy with projects and believes they’re more important than running.
“Too many people ruin too many things by running before their life. That’s backwards,” Legg said. “It might’ve saved me, maybe prolonged my ability to run, because the miles pile under you.”
Legg was motivated to start running again when he realized he needed to find a way to stay active. When he was 55, he decided to get serious and start working with a trainer.
Since then, Legg has run 175 races — a number, he said, that isn’t a lot compared to other runners.
It wasn’t until Legg was 65 that he started earning nationwide recognition for his running.
USATF, the governing body for long-distance running and track and field in the country, ranked Legg second in the nation for long-distance running four years in a row for people 65 to 69.
The fifth year, the organization named Legg Athlete of the Year for his age group.
Legg is so involved with racing that he built his own 10k track — 6.2 miles long — on his farm. He said he sometimes hosts the Jackson High School cross country team there, and on Oct. 29, he’s hosting a two-day, 112-mile race along with the company Vertical Runner.
“The important thing is to find out what carrot keeps you running and then you will be an important runner,” Legg said. “My biggest carrot is I’m getting older, but I still run good enough to get a pat on the back from my buddies.”
On Saturday, Legg will run the half-marathon in an attempt to break the record for the 20k, which is just fraction of a mile shy of the half-marathon distance. USATF cites the record for the fastest 20k for the 70-74 division at 1 hour, 43 minutes and 57 seconds, which was set back in 1991.
The high temperature on Saturday is supposed to be a balmy 75 degrees, but Legg said what affects runners even more than weather is their stress level and the environment around them. That’s why for these past few weeks, he’s been keeping his stress level to a minimum.
But if he doesn’t break the record this time, that stress level will remain low.
“What you get out of running is just being with folks you have something in common with,” Legg said. “Records are nice, but being a consistent runner, people know who you are, and they’re gonna pat you on the back whether you break it or not.
“So it’s a big thing to me, but if it doesn’t happen, tomorrow’s the next important day. I’ve got other things I’ve got to do.”
Theresa Cottom can be reached at 330-996-3216 or tcottom@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow on Twitter @Theresa_Cottom.