This 97-Year-Old Racing Master Won't Stop Competing

DIXON HEMPHILL IS running out of competition. At age 97, it's hard for him to find anyone to race in the 95-to-99-year-old division.

- THEO KAHLER

But that hasn't stopped Hemphill from continuing to train to the best of his ability. After all, in his illustrious masters career, he's racked up world records, hundreds of road races, and even some viral fame. Not bad for a near-centenarian who is still a relative newcomer to running.

Hemphill's athletic pursuits date back to his days at Middlebury College, where he enrolled in 1946 following a three-year stint as a U.S. Navy officer during World War II. At Middlebury, the Pawcatuck, Connecticut, native won the College decathlon and earned a bronze medal in the pole vault at the Millrose Games in 1949. After graduating, however, Hemphill put sports aside in favor of raising a family and furthering his career in the boiler industry. As his four children-and later, nine grandchildren-became the focus of his life, his fitness largely fell off.

But then, in his 50s, Hemphill began getting the competitive itch again. He started out by racing a mile for fun at a local meet. Months later, after some consistent training, he anchored a team to victory in a 20-kilometer relay race. From that point forward, Hemphill had a new passion. "I got a medal and thought, 'Well, this is fun. That was 50 years ago, and I've been running ever since."

Find friends who will fuel you / To feed his running fix, Hemphill joined the Potomac Valley Track Club (PVTC), a running club in the Washington, D.C., area, in 1972. Since then, Hemphill has regularly trained with the team and competed in hundreds of road races, like the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run, and ran 12 marathons, earning a 3:44 PR at age 70. Hemphill also competed in triathlons-finishing 60 in his career-but in the last 20 years, he has focused primarily on shorter distances.