Ian Griffin ran his first race in 1982, a 10-kilometer journey in Toronto to benefit charity. Griffin, then in his mid-20s with no competitive running experience in high school or college, was nervous for that trek across 6.2 miles. He worried that he wouldn't be able to finish the run.
Well, Griffin not only finished, but has been running ever since.
Forrest Gump, meet Ian Griffin, a Canadian native now living in Uptown.
Just consider Griffin's running legacy:
— He ran his first marathon, a 26.2-mile grueling race, in Ottawa in 1982, finishing in 3:05.
— He has run the prestigious Boston Marathon seven times, with No. 8 scheduled for next April 17.
— He recorded his best marathon time ever at age 40, finishing the Toronto course in 2:40.
— He has run 28 marathons, finishing all, with his 30th slated for the Gay Games next summer in Chicago. Griffin has run the Gay Games marathon four times, winning the gold in his age group twice ( including the last two Games, in Amsterdam and Sydney ) and the silver in New York City.
'I never knew I could run,' said Griffin, 50, a licensed clinical social worker at Rush University Medical Center. 'I took it up in graduate school, to help reduce stress. I just run for myself and the clock.'
Griffin ran his first Boston Marathon in 1998, which was his sixth marathon overall. He did the Chicago Marathon in October, finishing in 2:49:32. He was the second-best runner in his age-group, finishing behind Zygmunt Lyznicki, 54, of Poland, who crossed in 2:48:01. Griffin finished 294th overall—out of 40,000 runners.
'Since I did 2:40 at age 40, I had this joke with myself that I wanted to come in around 2:50 this year since I was 50,' Griffin said. 'I was really happy with my time this year.'
Griffin, who has lived in Chicago for four years and hails from Prince Edward Island, said his success this year—on a crisp Sunday morning—was attributed to his pre-race training, which included at least 13 runs of more than three hours, some as many as 25 miles. Plus, he was more consistent with his speed work, which he does on Wednesday nights; was dedicated to a strict pre-race diet ( he stopped drinking beer two weeks out ) ; and had plenty of sleep in the weeks before.
'Psychologically, I felt good going in,' Griffin said. 'Often, about halfway through or maybe at the 18-mile mark, the 'marathon devil' gets on your shoulder and keeps saying, 'You're not going to keep up that pace; there will be problems ahead.'
'But this year I pushed the 'devil' away; I knew I had trained long and hard.
'I didn't really have a motivation for this race, other than, I just wanted to see how I'd do as I was changing age groups, into the 50s. When I crossed the finish-line, I thought I had done fairly well, but it wasn't until later that afternoon when I saw the official times on the Internet.
'That's when I was really happy.'
Griffin had friends throughout the course, starting with his partner of about seven months, Curt Fedder, 50, who works in research. Fedder drove Griffin to the race and, naturally, cheered as Griffin was among 40,000 to start. Fedder also was there at the end, and watching as well at about the 11-mile mark.
Griffin's friend Roger Bashore, a fellow marathoner, met him at the 21-mile mark—and ran the final five with Griffin. 'That was a nice distraction; I give him some kudos for my good finish,' Griffin said. 'At no point this year did I want to quit. I felt real good the whole race, though I thought maybe I went out too fast. But not so.'
Griffin left the starting block in the competitive group, which followed the elite and sub-elite runners.
'I had three goals for this year's marathon: one, to finish; two, break three hours; three, get as close to 2:50 as possible. Well, I think I did pretty well,' said Griffin, who wore gloves throughout and endured stiff headwinds going eastbound.
'When I ran past the Front Runners area ( along Broadway at the 8-mile mark ) , I knew I'd see people who I knew. And I did. Then I knew Curt would be at mile-11. Friends from work were at mile-18 and Roger at mile-21.
'Something happens when you're out there by yourself. As strange as this may sound, you feel very lonely, almost out of touch with people. That's why it was so nice to see so many familiar faces; it definitely helps.'
After the race, Griffin splurged with a hamburger and beer. He topped that off with Haagen-Dazs ice cream.
Griffin and Fedder went on a cruise to Mexico the week after the Marathon.
He's back to his normal running routine, hitting the roads five days a week.
Boston in April is next, but with a twist, he admitted. Griffin and long-time friend Jim Van Buskirk of Toronto, a fellow social worker, plan to cruise the course at a leisurely pace, determined to have as much fun along the way as possible, including slapping hands with kids' along the course.
'We're not even going to worry about our time,' he said.
Then next summer Griffin will be in his fifth Gay Games marathon, determined to win first-place in his age group.
'I'm really looking forward to the Gay Games' Marathon. It's gonna be terrific, really great. I hope it'll be a great turnout,' he said.
A year from now, he'll again criss-cross Chicago for the annual LaSalle Bank gala, but with extra motivation. That will be the first marathon for Coach Griffin, so to speak.
He's coaching Fedder, and will run alongside Fedder, for his first-ever marathon.
'I'm totally looking forward to that race,' Griffin said.
Said Fedder, 'He's very inspiring. He gets a lot out of doing them and it's very exciting to watch him run. I was so proud of him this year; it was so exciting.'
So what's the appeal of running a marathon?
'When you get the marathon bug, you truly get hooked. It's hard to shake it and I couldn't imagine my life without marathons. It's such a big part of my life,' Griffin said.
