SixinSixty©
Determination, fortitude, courage, and consistency
(Two cross country marathons and four running marathons at 60)
SixinSixty copyrighted by Ken Hill July 27, 2008. Service and Trade Marks are pending
Six in 60
Ken Hill should be the poster grandpa for Heart Month this month, as he plans to finish six marathons -- three on skis, three on shoes -- in a year after turning 60.
Trent Edwards
Calgary Herald
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Ken Hill figures his lofty goal deserves a catchy title: Six in 60.
As the Calgarian's 60th birthday approached last month, Hill realized his plans to race in three cross-country ski ultra-marathons and three marathons this year equal one race for each decade he's been on this Earth.
And yes, race is definitely the operative word here.
Unlike many of us, Hill didn't just look down at an expansive belly on New Year's Eve and swear for the umpteenth time this would be the year he gets in shape.
After 10 years of cross-country skiing and five years of long-distance racing, Hill has noticed a funny thing: unlike most people his age, he just keeps getting faster.
Or, put another way, aging just seems to make him more rapid.
When Hill literally kicks off his year of racing at the Canadian Birkebeiner near Edmonton Saturday, he doesn't just want to compete in long-distance races for the rest of the year. He wants to win his age category.
If snow conditions are average, he expects to ski the 55-kilometre "Birkie lite" course in 41/2 hours or less. That should put him at or near the top of the 60 to 69 age group.
Just two weeks later, Hill plans to have a similarly competitive race result when he skate-skis a similar distance in the American Birkebeiner in Wisconsin. (Skate-skiing, which mimics the motion of ice skating, is faster, but even more strenuous than the classic technique of kick-and-glide cross-country skiing.) Three weeks after burning his legs out in that second ultra-marathon, Hill plans to classic ski in the Norwegian Birkebeiner. He expects to finish that notoriously hilly 54-kilometre "full Birkie" course in under five hours while wearing a seven-kilogram pack as per tradition.
If Hill and nine other skiers on the Lifesport Racing Team who plan to attempt these races finish all three, they will add their names to a very short list of people who have finished all three Birkies in a year.
Two of the other skiers on the Lifesport team who are attempting this monumental fitness feat are also in their 60s, but Hill is the only one who plans to up the ante by adding three marathons to his goals list this year.
And he plans to shame men half his age in the running arena as well by blasting through three marathons -- the Boston Marathon in April, the HSBC Calgary Marathon in July and the Treherne Marathon this September in Manitoba -- in three hours and 45 minutes or less. This should put him in the top third of runners overall in the Calgary and Treherne races. The Boston Marathon attracts the world's best, and it's considered an achievement just to qualify for the race, which Hill did with a 3:46 marathon last September at the Treherne Marathon.
All this is big talk for a 60-year-old who's still working a full-time job as a proposal manager in the oilfield industry. So I decided to put this grandpa (he really is, with two young grandchildren) to the test against a man half his age (me) on the cross-country trails at Canada Olympic Park the other night after work.
Joining Hill after he warmed up in front of a Herald photographer, I told him to go at his own pace during this "easy ski" he had scheduled as part of his race training for the week.
Hill, a genial sort, sticks with me for the first three kilometres. Or at least he tries to hold himself back. Though he has been ramping down his training to start the gruelling racing season with a full tank of gas, he keeps shooting off ahead. He's kind enough to stop and wait at the top of each hill as I sprint to catch up, but with each stride the gap between us inevitably widens.
At the start of the second loop, I insist Hill leave me behind to really go at his own pace: I don't see him again until we meet up back at the daylodge. And, while admittedly out of shape, I was skiing hard.
After nine kilometres of skiing, he looks refreshed. Meanwhile, I look in vain for an IV to rapidly replenish my bodily fluids.
We soon discuss Hill's ambitious plans, and how five years of long-distance cross-country ski racing and running marathons has affected his health.
In short, Hill should be a poster grandpa for the Heart and Stroke Foundation's Heart Month. In the past year alone, he has doubled his race training to about 10 hours a week.
In the summer he started lifting weights, doing yoga and eating more greens.
His body responded by dropping 30 pounds off his five-foot-ten frame. Now a lithe 155 pounds, Hill has also seen his resting heart rate drop from 58 beats a minute to 47 beats a minute (that's good at any age).
"My doctor says my cholesterol levels are almost undetectable," he says.
Over the same time period, his maximum heart rate has increased from 180 to 190 beats a minute, way higher than the 160 beats a minute doctors recommend an average man his age to limit himself to while working out. And in late December, Hill kept his heart rate at 180 beats a minute for 40 minutes.
Hill matter-of-factly lays out his goals, saying he fully expects his improved fitness and skills to help him achieve personal bests in all of his races this year.
On the face of it, it sounds like he's boasting. But after just a few minutes of speaking to Hill, I realize that he isn't cocky -- he's just bursting with enthusiasm about pushing himself to his limits.
Hill tells co-workers who ask for fitness advice to "invest in your body" by exercising about 10 per cent of your waking hours.
Working out has had tremendous benefits not only for Hill's body, but for his psyche.
"I'm not as stressed," he says before flashing an easy smile. "It makes me more alert, I don't have to watch my weight and I feel great. I feel healthy. I feel energetic." Hill wasn't always this fit. After running 1,600-metre races in high school, his workouts became light and infrequent for the next few decades. He was 50 before he started cross-country skiing. And he didn't get serious about racing until age 55, after both his adult children left home.
Bjorn Taylor was one of Hill's cross-country ski coaches from 1998 to 2005 on the now-disbanded masters club Team Loki. He remembers Hill showing up for his first training session "50 to 60 pounds" overweight and with rudimentary skiing skills.
With the support of his wife Mary, Hill now trains year-round at least four times a week for cross-country ski and running races.
"This fills the void," he says.
Once Hill "got the bug," he just kept practising and improving in both skiing and running.
According to Taylor, a key to Hill's success is that he never lets a slow race or training setback get him down.
"There's no ego," he says of Hill. "It's just for fun." Good attitude or not, Hill's rapid improvement has impressed many people in Alberta's long-distance racing community. Brian Lucas, a spokesman for the Canadian Birkebeiner, marvels at Hill's stamina.
"You've gotta be damn fit to do a 55-K, whether you're 60 or 30," Lucas says. "And to do what Ken Hill's doing this year? He's a machine." Hill has no plans to slow down as he gets older. Before he turns 70, Hill plans to finish 10 races on the World Loppet circuit, each ranging from 55 to 90 kilometres long.
"I'm motivated more now," Hill explains. "Now that I'm 60, I can win some of these races in my age category." Hill's times continue to improve every race. But he wants to stay active even after he starts to slow down.
"I sure don't want to be in a (retirement) home when I'm 80," he says. "I'd rather be running marathons and hiking and getting outside." tedwards@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2008
The following is the text from an interview I had with Trent Edwards with the Calgary Herald before I embarked on my SixinSixty journey. This journey changed my life.
Copy of the front page of the Calgary Real Life Outside section of the newspaper may be viewed at the 6in60 link.
6in60
