Beating the sweltering Aussie heat and running more than 400km over ten days led experienced Nelson marathon runner Jim Kerse to earn a spot on the world record podium.
Jim was 73 years and 355 days when he crossed the finish line of his tenth marathon on 20 September, 2022, while competing in the Magnetic Marathon series in Townsville.
The historic moment set a new world record for the oldest male to complete ten marathons in ten days, with the previous record holder aged in his 60s.
Jim, now 75, says he initially missed seeing his face on the fifth page of the Guinness World Records 2024, after skimming through its sports section at Christmas time.
It wasn’t until a fellow runner informed him of his rightful page place at a recent Central Otago marathon, and he was “surprised and chuffed” by his shirtless presence in one of the most top-selling copyrighted books worldwide.
Jim, who’s a retired high school PE teacher and has competed in several national and international marathon events, says while the female record holder for ten marathons in ten days was 78 years old, no male aged over 70 had attempted the male record.
“I thought it must be possible,” he says.
“I like to set an example for aging, I’m very much against people sitting on the couch, and if I’m trying to get any message across [through this record] it is that the primal experience of being out there running is great.
“You may not be having fun when you’re actually doing it, but afterwards, the glow, the endorphins, and the buzz you get, more than compensates for the hard work you’ve done.”
Jim says the muggy Townsville air proved challenging, “walking into a heat pump” upon leaving his accommodation for his 4am marathon starts, before the heat climbed to more than 30 degrees.
“For the first two or three hours most of the blokes wouldn’t wear a top, for the cooling system, but once the sun came up and more people came out it was time to put the top back on,” he says.
“My partner Lesley was sneaking away and getting ice out of the hotel across the road while I was doing these races and massaging with a massage gun, and I would also aqua jog for half an hour everyday.”
Jim says the new record took six or seven months to ratify.
“You had to have signatures from several people, the printed results of the races, I had to have a JP sign everything off, photos of me on the course each day and a video of me finishing,” he says.
Jim quips he’ll now wait for someone else to break it, while he takes a step back from full to half marathons and competing in field events like shot put.
