By Richard Slate
Running is one of the few sports that you can compete in for as long as you want.
Essex resident Roger Pierce is a fine example of how running can completely shape your adult life in a very positive way.
"It's a quality of life thing, it's nice to feel good about yourself physically," said Pierce. "I don't want to be 18, I get the most out of what I can."
He recently competed in the 2010 World Masters Indoor Track & Field Championships in Kamloops, British Columbia (near Vancouver) on March 1-6.
As a member of Team USA, the 65-year-old Pierce won two gold medals and two silver medals. Those included a first-place finish in the 400 meters (61.33) and second-place in the 60 meters (8.37). That brings Pierce's grand total to 13 world championship titles in various age groups.
"I've been competing in the Masters for 26 years," said Pierce, a 2004 inductee into the Beverly High School Hall of Fame for track. "There are five age groups for masters, which levels the playing field so to speak."
Like a football or basketball player, Pierce trains specifically for shorter distances. You won't find him running in the Boston Marathon anytime soon. As he joked: "I don't do distance running, if I can't see the finish line, I'm not in it."
One advantage of getting older is that you get to know your body better and you start to sense your physical limits more. With that said, Pierce claims to keep his daily training to 45 minutes or less, including a warm-up and stretching.
"For sprint events, you want to do interval training. It has to be fast and then you need a recovery period. You want to be hurting, like weightlifting," said Pierce, who also competed for Northeastern University. "The key is the quality of the running, not the amount."
Pierce obviously loves running but it's not the only thing that keeps him coming back for the numerous masters events around the world throughout the year. It's all about the new friends he's made and the faraway lands that he wouldn't have seen otherwise.
"In college, you only have a four-year window and you had to win," explained Pierce. "Now if someone beats me, we've got the rest of our lives to run."
The U.S. Indoor Masters Championships (which includes ex-Olympians) are next weekend at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury. The indoor and outdoor championships alternate every year, allowing the athletes to concentrate on both formats.
Pierce says that he "plans on running until he can't." The former teacher, track coach and carpenter has dealt with plantar fasciitis and a bad back, but for the most part, he's held up over the years.
"I've been running since I was five, if you pay attention, you never stop learning," said Pierce. "It's really interesting, you think you know everything but you don't."
