Addicted to running, 70-year-old finishes 1,001 races

Trudy Calloway started running in 1983 and hasn’t stopped.

On Thanksgiving morning, the 70-year-old officially completed her 1,001 race at the seventh annual Say Grace Thanksgiving Race 5K.

She wasn’t an early adopter of running and only began in her mid-30s. It all started during an aerobics class in Wichita when the instructor told Calloway to run around the building.

“I got to the point where running around the gym was a bit more fun than the class, so I started running and the first time I made it a full mile, I felt fantastic,” she said. “Then I decided I’d sign up for the 1983 River Run and that was my very first race. I ran it, then got a sideache and had to stop and walk, but I finished and after that I was hooked.”

Calloway’s passion for running doesn’t stop at races — she works at First Gear, 111 North Mosley. On Wednesday, she sat in the store thumbing through a 2-inch binder full of her race logs. She keeps records of all the races she’s competed in, the dates and her running times.

“My sister gave me the log in 1984,” she said. “Recently I thought I should go through and count up how many I’ve done.”

That’s when she discovered that the recent Turkey Trot in Wichita this year was her 1,000^th race. She’s run one marathon, but likes to stick to the shorter distances.

“Until the day I die, I’m going to keep adding to the book,” she said.

Averaging it out, she runs about 30 races a year. But in 1996, she ran 53 — her most in one year.

“Nearly a race a weekend,” she said, smiling.

When there weren’t enough races in Kansas to sign up for, Calloway and her friends would travel to surrounding states, mostly Oklahoma.

And she still keeps up with those friends. Races can sometimes be a mini-reunion for runners that met decades ago.

Crediting her competitive spirit, Calloway said she mostly ran against the clock, and she has stacks of medals to prove it.

“I always wanted to go faster, to do better,” she said.

Now, she runs for the feeling.

“A lot of it is mental,” she said. “It gives you time to think.”

Asked what she thinks about when running, Calloway said, “Just about everything.”

She says it’s “zen-like.”

After finishing her Thanksgiving 5K, Calloway checked her watch — 27 minutes and 33 seconds. Her best this year.

How many more races will she run?

“500 more,” she said, laughing. “I don’t know, we’ll see.”

This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Addicted to running, 70-year-old finishes 1,001 races."