Marathon man: Willets crosses another finish line in Saskatoon

Mike Willets can’t stop running.

The 63-year-old self-identifying “marathon maniac” flew to Saskatoon from Dayton, Ohio to run in the 41st edition of the Saskatchewan Marathon Sunday.

He joined more than 4,000 runners on an overcast day — perfect conditions for a runner — to complete his marathon in under four hours.

That falls far behind the record-breaking time of 2:22:09 set Sunday by David Mutai. But unlike Mutai, Willets wasn’t going for first place. He was after a much bigger goal.

“I’m one of those wacky maniacs that have tried to do one marathon in every state, which I’ve done,” Willets said of his desire to run all over U.S.A.

Willets caught the marathon bug in 1999 when a few friends convinced him to run in the Columbus Marathon. He considered it a bucket list item at the time.

Twenty years later, Willets has crossed the finish line at 116 marathons. Once he ran in every state, it was time to expand his objective.

“I’ve tried to do one in every province,” he said. “This is my ninth province, so I guess that means I got one left, right?”

Manitoba is the only province he has left to cross off his list, something he expects to complete by September.

Less than a month removed from running in the Boston Marathon, Willets was impressed with the course in Saskatoon, calling it scenic, with a nice mix of flatness and hills.

Next month he will run marathons in Iowa and North Dakota to complete his second time running marathons in each state, a clear sign that he doesn’t plan on slowing down anytime soon.

“Every race hurts, believe me, but there’s a difference between hurt and hurting,” he said.

To keep in racing shape, Willets runs approximately 50 miles (over 80 kilometres) a week, but tries to stop himself from running much more than that to avoid fatigue or injury.

“I’ve been very blessed to be able to do a lot of these, and be able to tolerate the volume. That’s huge, not being injured,” he said.

That desire to see more places and run more marathons will take him to Iceland in August, where he will begin his objective of trying to run a marathon on each continent.

What’s even more impressive than the mileage he’s put on is that his wife Sue travels with him to each event, celebrating each time he crosses the finish line.

“I’ve been cheering him on for 45 years. I don’t know any different,” she said. “He gives that effort to his family, his grandkids — he’s just that kind of a guy.”

When he’s not running around the world, Willets is working at the Ohio Valley Surgical Hospital in Springfield, Ohio as the director of sports medicine.

Willet said his passion for running allows him to understand the rigours of being a high-performance athlete better than most doctors his age, and it gives him a chance to poke fun at his patients.

“I say, ‘Hey, I can still do this at my age. What are you whining about?”

Rest isn’t on Willet’s radar, either. He said he will take Monday off to travel home before tacking on more miles in preparation for his next marathon.