Harsh Routine Keeps 73-Year-Old Running

Ross Waltzer is training for the Leadville (Colo.) Trail 100-mile race.

So, of course, he's stuffing his 73-year-old body with a huge meal, followed by copious amounts of M&Ms, Oreos and Coca-Cola.

"My plan is to load up with so much food that I can hardly waddle," the Tulsa, Okla., dentist said. "Then I'm going to run 10 miles. I've trained my body so I won't regurgitate."

The binge run probably was the least bizarre part of the pony-tailed runner's preparation for tomorrow's high-altitude race.

In a typical week, Waltzer will subject himself to a regimen that would bring many athletes one-third his age to their knees:

-- He'll ride the elevator to the top of Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma Tower. Then run down 50 flights of stairs. Sideways. Ten times. If he's feeling especially good, he may walk up once.

-- Other runners seek out flat, stable surfaces. Waltzer prefers the loose, rocky scree next to railroad tracks. "Great stuff," he said. "Real slippery and very uneven."

-- He's also fond of hills. He sprints 300 yards uphill. Backward.

-- On weekends, he takes it easy with an eight-hour power walk.

All of that, plus workouts on a stair-climbing machine and plenty of pull-ups. Waltzer took up running at age 57. In his 16-year running career, he's completed 74 marathons and 65 ultramarathons (50 miles or more).The roots of his determination come from his grandmother.

"She was strict, no doubt about it," he said. "I've never had a drink of liquor or beer, never smoked a cigarette or used a curse word. And every day I look back and say, `Thank you, Granny!' "

Take it to the bank

Raymond Floyd was a late scratch in the PGA last week, claiming he didn't feel his game was up to it. However, he didn't rest. Instead, he won a Senior PGA event in Minnesotawhere he earned $165,000. To make that much in the PGA, he would have had to finish third.

He wrote it

-- Phil Jackman, Baltimore Sun: "Doesn't it give you a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing we now have Hakeem Olajuwon on our 1996 Olympic team making us a 1-to-40 bet to grab the gold medal? You know, there was a time when we welcomed competition."

Compiled by Kate Williams, Seattle Times.