Mike Parker, former Gorham resident, has been a runner for a long time. It is one way he spends time productively during the pandemic. In the summer months he swam a marathon distance (26.2 miles), 3/8 mile at a time on the Presumpscot River where he resides; and as he closed in on that goal, Parker toyed with other options. “I can no longer run on pavement, but I jog, hike and climb on nearby trails.,” he said. He also rides a road bike in the temperate months, and in the winter, he puts on his nordic skis any day he can find suitable snow. In the gap season when swimming ended and skiing hadn’t started, Parker thought running a marathon in increments would be another goal for him to tackle.

Parker grew up in Pittsfield, Maine. When he was a freshman he had an experience that prompted his lifetime commitment to staying fit. It was then that he went out for JV football, despite not being “built” for it. He remembered “After a couple of weeks, I was sure I did not want to remain a target in the secondary for Billy Dean to block me into oblivion play after play.” After practice one day he went to his coach, Paul Legge, and stated that he couldn’t handle both football and a special Latin course he was taking. “Probably seeing through that ruse, he replied that fitness was a necessary part of learning, and that if I needed to drop one, it should be special Latin.” Parker went on to say, “I survived both, and fitness has remained at the forefront of my agenda ever since.”

By the time he was in his thirties, Parker was running marathons. He shared that he entered more than twenty marathons in over a decade, saying his best performance was the 1981 Marine Corps Marathon. During that time he was serving at Bethesda Naval Hospital; Parker served 30 years in the Navy, first as a line officer, then as a Navy Dentist. “That was exactly half a lifetime ago,” he said.

Now a 78-year-old runner, Parker said he can only fantasize about “gliding along comfortably for long distances” as he once did. He said he still measures his well-being by how well his legs are functioning. “Like many of my cohorts, I am always looking for ways to connect the present with past performance.” Parker told of Nick Kirby of Gorham, who documented that he had run the mileage equivalent to the earth’s circumference with the logs to prove it. Others, he said, have devised algorithms to adjust concurrent results such that a sixty-year- old can compete on an equal footing with competitors in their twenties. “We geezers have lots of time to ruminate on such contrivances, but I no longer have the stamina nor the will to compete head to head,” he said.

Parker recently decided to calculate how long it would take to run 100 meters at the pace of his best marathon, which was 23 seconds. He then wondered if he could run at that speed for 100 meters; he figured there was only one way to find out. The Windham High School Track Coach, Jeff Riddle, showed him the distance on the Windham High School track and how it was laid out; Riddle then encouraged Parker to give it a try. Setting his smartphone timer for 23 seconds Parker sprinted the 100m to the finish line, hitting it before the timer went off. “I shouldn’t have been surprised that I had to go all-out to run that fast,” he said. “Running all-out is scary business for a septuagenarian (a person who is 70-79 years old).”

“My stride contrasted with the one that I used to sustain for nearly three hours. Gone is the flight time when neither foot touches the ground. Gone, too, were both the mass and elasticity in hamstrings that I rarely stretched during my running years. Short stride or not, I had discovered a distance in which I could equal my best marathon pace.” A marathon distance is 26.2 miles, but in metric terms it is 42.2 kilometers, or 422 dashes of 100M. “I could envision running a marathon at my best-ever pace, 23 seconds at a time. It was a captivating prospect that would preoccupy my next three months,” Parker shared.

In his first session, Parker only ran two dashes. He said, “I noted a delicate balance between what was fast enough and what my hamstrings would tolerate. Ten dashes per session proved tolerable, but I made the mistake of experimenting higher.” After two consecutive days of 20 dashes in late September, Parker said he had to spend most of October recovering. “In November I was able to settle into a fairly comfortable 10 dashes per session, icing my hamstrings almost daily.”

November went by quickly for him, taking only a few days off for bad weather. In early December, Parker completed his 422nd dash with his wife Carolyn present. She FaceTimed the event with Parker’s college classmate in Helsinki, Finland. According to Parker, his friend was one of the more enthusiastic fellow runners that supported his concept of re-running an old marathon. He stated “That was the entire gathering of fans, closing the book on an old guy’s passion; two days later the track was white with the first snow.” He went on to say, “I dedicated this challenge to the memory of Coach Legge, whose advice continues to shape such activities even this late in life.”

Running has now been replaced by skiing and winter hiking. He said, “I have chased snow as far away as Sugarloaf and made frequent use at Gorham Country Club and the Daigle Sod Farm, skate skiing on as little as two inches of snow.” And there may be yet another goal in sight for Parker; should the snow cooperate, it’s within driving distance, and survives into April. “I stand a chance of reaching my goal of 79 skiing sessions,” he shared.

He’s sure his former coach would be happy knowing he still makes fitness a priority. For now though, Parker, at 78, proudly ran a marathon over a three month period, running each dash at the pace of his 39 year old self. He simply said, “Still smiling.”