HOW THEY GOT THEIR START

JEANNIE RICE After moving to the US from Korea in 1968, she took a trip back home in 1983 and gained three kilograms (7lb) – all the relatives were feeding her a feast at every gathering. ‘We had to eat to be polite,’ says Rice. ‘I came home, I’m 5ft 2in, and I’m a little chubby. I wanted to lose those few pounds.’ So she started walking and jogging around her block. That summer, her two sons were on a local swimming team in Mentor, Ohio. Another mum invited Rice to run with her while the kids were at their daily practice. Her first race, a five-miler, soon followed. ‘I found out I can run,’ says Rice.

GENE DYKES He was a successful high school track athlete, running 10:17 for the two-mile. But when he got to college at Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, he found himself ‘blown off the track’ by everyone else. After college, he kept running but was more interested in golf and bowling. In 2004, he was a fourth player for a golf outing, during which one of the other men mentioned he was in a running group. Dykes soon joined them. He did his first marathon in 2006, at the age of 58 – he finished in 3:43. In 2013, he hired his coach and reduced his marathon time from 3:29 to 3:09 in five months.