This up and down spring weather has gotten in the way of Don Trilling’s training schedule.
“It’s been horrible,” he explains. “The wind is just relentless, week after week after week.”
Last Sunday, he was in the middle of his workout when the rains and winds picked up, ultimately forcing him to cut the training session short. But none of that will stop this 90-year-old runner, who will once again take part in the 34th George Washington Parkway Classic 10-mile race on Sunday, Trilling’s 30th entry.
Trilling, an Alexandria resident, is a bit of a local running celebrity. An active runner for about 50 years, Trilling still attempts to get out for a couple miles Tuesday and Thursdays, and 10 miles on Sundays. He used to frequent the bike trail along the GW Parkway, where fellow runners would recognize him. Now, he usually trains on the loop around Fort Hunt Park. And of course, he has become a fixture at the Parkway Classic.
Donning the honorary #1 bib, which was given to him originally in 2010, Trilling will take the course that runs from the Mount Vernon Estate, along the Parkway and into Old Town Alexandria. Trilling loves the scenery that the race provides, something he says has kept him coming back all these years.
However, Trilling is mulling the idea of this being his last time running the race.
“This will be the 30th time I’ve started, so this will be a good number to go out on,” he says. “I lost my wind about three years ago, so now I’m walking instead of running.”
Even if this will be his last race, Trilling still plans to get out and exercise weekly, as he enjoys the self-satisfying nature of running.
Like every runner who lines up this weekend, Trilling has his goal firmly in place. “I’m hoping to do it in the time they allow me,” he says. “But my basic goal is to finish of course.” (Trilling finished the 2017 race in 4 hours and 51 minutes; he has finished 26 of the 29 Parkway Classics he previously entered.) “I’m never running to win. I’m really just running to finish.”
He may not be running to win, but Trilling is likely to walk away with a medal on Sunday. Despite saying he has finished last or second to last in recent years, he has come away with first place medals for his age group.
