Retired grocer from Macclesfield is proof that running is not just a young person’s game after only starting his journey at the age of 57
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t a time when running has never been more popular with generation Z, one man is proving that it is not just a young person’s game. The oldest athlete in this Sunday’s London Marathon is 88-year-old Harry Newton – whose remarkable running journey only started by chance when he was 57.
Since then Newton, a retired grocer from Macclesfield, has completed 31 marathons, including 21 at London and another by jogging 461 times around his garden during lockdown. And he has a simple message for nervous first timers this weekend. “Don’t try to run too quickly, and keep a steady pace,” he says. “And make sure your bowels are empty.”
As Newton speaks his wife, Phyllis, who is a sprightly 85, laughs in amusement. What does she make of his unlikely journey? “She always tells me I’m daft, and she wishes I wasn’t doing it, but she’s been a terrific supporter,” he says. “She will be there this year, along with around 20 members of my family. And this year I will be in the VIP area – I get to choose when I start and there are private toilets as well!”
