Inspiration at the Bagel Run

50 year old Derrick Staley (right) and 39 years old Jonathan Bright (left), both from the Capital Region, sprinted through the Brueggers Bagel 10K Run in no time at all. In fact, they nearly beat out a good share of the 5K runners in the process.

Taking the final turn in front of the Albany School of Humanities, a tight squeeze to be sure, nearly two dozen runners came within seconds from a huge pileup collision with these two elite. Nola described it as too close for comfort. Minutes later a car exiting a driveway nearly smashed into Karen. Lucky for me, I was able to groove down Whitehall without incident.

But the most impressive feat came when 85 year old Michael Bartholomew and 82 year old Regina Tumidajewicz clocked in between 40 and 43 minutes respectively. Yes, you read correctly, both octogenarians, striding their way to the finish line with over 550 younger runners.

Michael doesn't let the onset of Alzheimer's or losing his wife to the disease 2 years ago slow him down. He has an infectious grin, a smile that stretches from cheek to cheek, and jokes that he wishes he had more hair. A few strands of gray is better than none at all, I quip.

For all those who think they're too old to start running, Regina got hooked in her early sixties. Her 13-minute mile pace is inspiration to all, especially her oldest son, who, in his sixties now, runs besides her during every race. Countless finish lines have been crossed by the two of them together.