Jim Miller: 43 Years and 249 Days

Last December there was a half marathon that was by invitation only in Hardeeville, SC (a town 20 miles from me) which had several national class runners attend. However; I went to watch Jim Miller, a 61 year old guy run. I introduced myself and told him how impressed I was with his career.

Jim started running in 8th grade on his middle school track team. He started getting serious about running when he enrolled at Red River High School in Grand Fork, North Dakota. He was the third man on his high school cross country team and went on to run at Division III, Lawrence University in Appleton, WI. Jim flourished in college, earning All-Conference and All-American status in both cross country and track (10,000 meters).

After his freshman year in college, as an 18 year old, Jim ran the 1977 North Dakota Marathon in 2:34. After his first marathon, there was a quote in the local paper, where he stated, “I’m not sure I want to run another marathon, there’s too much training.” The next year, he ran it again and had a “Duel in the Sun” with Dick Beardsley, edging out the future world class marathoner (Dick Beardsley and Alberto Salazar ran the entire 1982 Boston Marathon together in one of the most epic races ever, there was a book written about that race called ‘Duel in the Sun’), crossing the line in 2;26.

In 1980, Jim moved to Burlington, VT and started running for the Saucony Racing Team. His success continued and he qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in both 1980 and 1984. He achieved a personal best of 2:18:17 at the prestigious Boston Marathon.

Jim has continued to run and was the third person ever to run a sub 3:00 marathon in six different decades (70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, 10s, 20s).

Even though he was the fourth person to run a sub 3:00 in six decades, he is the world record holder for the longest span of time between his first sub 3:00 marathon and his latest, 43 years and 249 days. Which was in Atlanta this past February, where he ran a 2:51:12. What makes that time incredible is that the race started in “waves” and he ran the entire 26.2 miles by himself, at 61 years old!

When asked about his secrets to his success, Jim was very humble. He said he does not have a special diet, he just eats clean, healthy foods for energy. Jim does not do any cross training, but he does a 10 minute yoga/stretching routine that he does before and after every run, and once more every evening.

Jim and his wife, Pat live half the year in Burlington and the cold months in Bluffton, SC. They have two children and a 1 1/2 year old grandson.