At 73, Lee Cunningham of Round Pond is still hitting the roads running or biking nearly every day, and in the winter he cross-country skis. Cunningham has run in almost every Olde Bristol Day road race, even before the Samoset 10K, which evolved into the Alvin Sproul Samoset 10K.
Cunningham figures he has been running in Olde Bristol Day races for 25-26 years. He missed a couple of years after a bike mishap that left him with “a couple of broken hips.”
The original Olde Bristol Day race was an informal affair that started at the restaurant by Pemaquid Restoration and Fort William Henry and ran out the Pemaquid Trail and back. Cunningham estimates it was about four miles long and said Alan Reilly was the race coordinator.
“After Al Sproul retired, he expanded the race,” making it longer (10K). Sproul ran the race for 10 years. After Sproul’s death, his wife Carlene and family kept the race going another 10 years, renaming it the Alvin Sproul Samoset 10K. This year the race was taken over by Bristol fire fighter Fred Ford, and continues to be a benefit for Bristol Fire and Rescue.
“It has always been an enjoyable race. It is a very nice race, very classy,” Cunningham said. Cunningham first came to Maine 29 years ago and rented in Chamberlain, before purchasing a home here.
Cunningham has been running for 40 years, starting when he was 32. “I pretty much run, bike or cross-country ski everyday. It helps keep the knees and hips free from the trauma of running,” he said of cross training.
Cunningham has spent his career as an exercise physiologist teaching at Fitchburg State College in Massachusetts. “I use my body as a laboratory. Running and exercise have always been a part of my life. It has been my lifetime passion. Exercise is medicinal, it helps your metabolism, and helps clean your mind,” Cunningham commented.
Cunningham used to run marathons and log 60 to 70 miles a week. Now he leaves the long distance racing to younger legs, but still logs about 30 miles a week. He has a formula he uses to convert his biking miles to equivalent running miles.
“I have a saying, the older I get the faster I was,” Cunningham joked of his times that have gotten progressively slower as he has aged. “There is a definite decline in performance over the years.” Going into this year’s race, Cunningham told himself to “do the best you can and try not to hurt yourself.” With heat and humidity, Cunningham said, “You had to be very careful.”
“We would all like to be a Steven Reed,” Cunningham said of the 61-year-old retired Wiscasset physician who placed eighth overall in a time of 41:40. “That’s an amazing time for a 60 year old,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham was the oldest runner in the race, and finished 60th out of 104 runners in a time of 56:21. Under an hour, and a very impressive time for his age.
Of his lifetime of exercise, Cunningham said, “I get to the point, that if I don’t do it I feel guilty. It’s like eating that extra donut; it makes you feel guilty. You need to feel guilty, or you won’t do it.”
