Rodgers still runs the show

In his very first marathon, the Boston Marathon in 1973, Bill Rodgers could not finish.

“I dropped out after 21 miles,” Rodgers said of the 26.2-mile race. “But the next year, I moved up to 14th.”

Then, the world took notice.

Rodgers went on to win both the Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon four times each during the late 1970s, and won 21 marathons in his career.

No other runner in history has ever done that.

Today, Rodgers will be at the Corona del Mar High track at 8 a.m., leading a seminar for runners preparing for the Orange County Marathon. Part of his advice will likely be similar to Rodgers’ own story — you just can’t give up.

“The tricky thing is that when you start getting into competition, the world changes,” said Rodgers, who grew up in Connecticut and now lives in Massachusetts. “It’s the sticky side of the sport, the nitty-gritty. I’ve always liked the competition; I wanted to win my races. But even if you’re out there for your health and fitness, you can find your niche.

“This sport is limitless … probably this and soccer are the two biggest global sports in the world, I’d say. Just look at participation around the world.”

Another one of those participants is Bill Sumner, who is also OC Marathon race director and CdM coach of cross country and track. Both Sumner and Rodgers are 59, and they have raced against each other over the years.

It was Sumner who invited his friend to speak to the race participants.

Rodgers also ran the half-marathon at the inaugural OC Marathon, in 2005.

“For me, I’m looking at one of the greatest runners in U.S. history,” Sumner said Thursday night at CdM. “It just happens to be that we’re personal friends. I thought, ‘Gosh, wouldn’t it be fun for my friends, the Orange County runners, to meet this guy?’ He’s pretty down to earth. I call him the Woody Allen of running.”

“But I don’t look like him,” Rodgers interjects. “And he makes better movies.”

Rodgers began running when he was 15. When he was at Wesleyan University, his roommate was 1968 Boston Marathon winner Ambrose Burfoot, which helped motivate him further.

Burfoot went on to become executive editor for “Runner’s World” magazine.

But after college, there was a period when Rodgers stopped running. Part of the problem, he said, was that he needed a team.

“Running is really group-oriented,” Rodgers said. “A lot comes from the people around you, whether it’s your husband or wife, your coach or your teammates. All of these things are huge.”

Huge was Rodgers during those years in the late ‘70s, too. He twice broke the American marathon record in Boston, with his times of 2 hours, 9 mnutes, 55 seconds in 1975 and 2 hours, 9 minutes, 27 seconds in 1979. Rodgers also competed for the U.S. Olympic team at the ’76 Montreal Olympics.

And he’s kept running ever since, although he said he stopped running full-length marathons in the early 1990s.

“You really can’t rely on your doctor alone to help you take care of your health and fitness,” Rodgers said. “They’re going to take care of you after you’re sick. What you have to do is take care of yourself, so you don’t have to go see [the doctor]. That’s how runners operate; that’s how we live our lives. It’s a very simple sport.”

Sumner said that Rodgers is still one of the top runners in the country in the 50-60 age group. In his life, Rodgers has completed in dozens of marathons and broken the 2-hour, 15-minute mark a whopping 28 times.

“In the country, there are millions of runners, and he’s still in the top 1% at age 59,” Sumner said.

Lately, though, Sumner has been making up some ground on his friend.

“He was always beating me, but I got closer when we were in our 40s,” Sumner said. “Before that, I couldn’t touch him. But now, he’s slowing down because he’s getting old.”

But Rodgers is all right with that. He hopes to be a lifer in running, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“We’re both trying to be iron men, we’re both fighting our injuries,” he said. “This is a hard sport, this is like football. You don’t collide [with each other], but you collide with the ground.”

And yet, he never loses the desire to lace up the running shoes and do it again.

“There’s always someone to race,” Rodgers said. “It’s one of the most competitive sports out there. But it’s also fun, and you make friends. Most of my friends are runners.”

MATT SZABO may be reached at (714) 966-4614 or at [email protected].