JOHN Nuttall lives and breathes running.
The 71 year old Townsville resident was the oldest competitor in last Sunday's Wangaratta Chronicle Marathon, completing the 42.195km distance in a time of 3:51:18, placing him 31st in the field of 57 runners.
It was the first time John had run the marathon at Wangaratta, but it certainly won't be the last.
"I loved the course...fairly flat, very scenic and around three quarters of it is in shade which was terrific," he enthused.
"The fact it is free of (vehicular) traffic is excellent, and I must say that the volunteers were tremendous.
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"I'll definitely be back.
"I've actually run a fair bit here before....I competed in several of the Kelly Chase events (50km and 100km) organised by Justin and Sharon Scholz (founders of the Wangaratta Marathon)."
John says running is his "healthy addiction".
"If I hadn't have taken up running I would be dead by now," he said.
"I used to be a heavy drinker, but started running when I was around 43 years old and it has saved my life."
Running 5km and 10km events, John graduated to the half marathon and then did a marathon in his second year.
He ran it in around two hours 50 minutes – a time which would've placed him on the podium at the past two runnings of the Wangaratta Chronicle Marathon.
"I just love running...the freedom, space and the camaraderie among runners," John said.
"I really enjoy the challenges of ultramarathons."
In fact, John will compete in the Sri Chinmoy 48hr Ultramarathon event in Canberra tomorrow.
"I'm doing the six hour event and want to set a new Australian record for my age group," he said.
"The record is 61.7km but I'm hoping to run 62km.
"I's love to be able to keep on running for another 20 years."
