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 Boston Marathon 2011: Runners' Stories AGE-OLD DREAM An octogenarian earns his way to the start at Boston. By Charles Bethea 
 
 
 
 Photographs by Harold Daniels 
 
 PUBLISHED 03/30/2011 
 
 
 
 After 81 years, Clarence Hartley is finally running the Boston Marathon. What took him so long? First there were two wars—Korea and Vietnam—where he served in the United States Air Force. Then he spent years stationed in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Germany, and England. More recently, he battled lymphoma and prostate cancer. But on April 18, Hartley will set off on a well-deserved journey from Hopkinton to Copley Square. 
 
 
 
 At a time in life when even the most active runners show signs of slowing, Hartley is still running strong. He'll be the oldest entrant in this year's Boston, having qualified last May with a 4:39 marathon (he needed 5:00); he's since run a 4:26. He's just 13 minutes shy of the American record for 80-to 84-year-olds, but Hartley is more keen on "beating several thousand younger runners," he says. "The last time I felt so good was on my final combat mission in the Air Force in 1969. We did a barrel roll flying back to base, and my crew threw me in a pool." 
 
 
 
 Unlike many runners, Hartley didn't set out to qualify for Boston in his youth. 
 
 
 
 "When most runners are in their prime, I was in combat," says the retired lieutenant colonel, who served in the Air Force for 24 years and received the Distinguished Flying Cross and five air medals. It wasn't until years after he retired and moved with his wife, Riki, to the town of Young Harris, Georgia, that Hartley started running. One morning there in 1998, when he was 68, Hartley saw a race take place near his home. "It looked fun," he says, "so I decided to try it." 
 
 
 
 Over the next seven years, Hartley ran close to 150 road races, setting state age group masters records in every distance up to the half-marathon. ("Of course," says Hartley, "my age group gets smaller every year.") In 2005, Hartley needed a bigger challenge. He set his sights on the marathon, running his first in 4:09 and qualifying for Boston. But he was soon diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and had to put the race on hold while he underwent chemo. Two years later, he found out he had prostate cancer. "I remember lying on an exam table thinking about Lance Armstrong and what he accomplished," says Hartley. "I thought if I survived, I'd come back like he did and run Boston." Now he's cancer-free. Doctors and friends alike are impressed he's run this far from both diseases. 
 
 
 
 "I can't count the times I've heard runners say they want to compete like Clarence when they're his age," says Kristian Blaich, 44, a friend and fellow Atlanta Track Club member. "If someone in his 80s can race at Clarence's level, the rest of us can exercise a few times a week." 
 
 
 
 Hartley credits his late-age running success to good genes, but also to the competitive nature that led him to fly more than 100 combat missions in his youth. Today, he runs every other day, logging about 25 to 30 miles a week as he gears up for Boston. 
 
 
 
 On a cold Saturday afternoon this past January, the retiree let a 29-year-old reporter join him for a training run. On the last mile, Hartley put down a challenge: "Sprint you to the end," he said, as he raced ahead, with the younger of the two barely pulling ahead. "It's fun being old when you're healthy and in shape," Hartley later said. "I have to look for porta-potties more often, though. Hopefully there'll be plenty of those at Boston." 
 
 
 
 
 
 Running the Numbers 
 
 449 Number of entrants at Boston who will be 65 or older 
 
 2 Number of entrants at Boston who will be 80 or older 
 
 83 Age of the oldest person to run Boston in the last five years 
 

– For its oldest runner, the Boston Marathon is no big deal: Clarence Hartley may be 81, but he’s fought in two wars—Korea and Vietnam—and conquered both non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and prostate cancer. He easily qualified for the race, beating his age and gender's required time of 5:00 by 21 minutes. Runner’s World takes a look at his story: After having run almost 150 road races since the spry age of 68, the former Distinguished Lieutenant Colonel decided in 2005 it was time to aim for the marathon; he ran it in 4:09, qualifying for Boston. But his two illnesses forced him to put that race off. “I remember lying on an exam table thinking about Lance Armstrong and what he accomplished," he notes. "I thought if I survived, I'd come back like he did and run Boston." Now, he's more than healthy: “The last time I felt so good was on my final combat mission in the Air Force in 1969." His goal for this morning's race? Beat "several thousand younger runners," he told Runner’s World. So how'd he do? 4:26:25. (Click to read about the record-setting winner of the race.)