By RICK KRON
Leader staff writer
Is he a marathoner of marathoners?
Or a marathoner for the ages?
Perhaps a marathon maniac?
Or just a guy who likes to run?
Steve Hughes, 65, of Little Rock is actually all the above.
On Feb. 1 with a Top 3 finish in the Sedona Marathon in Arizona, Hughes joined the elite few. Those who have run marathons in all 50 states, not once or twice, but four times.
In 2010 he became the first Arkansan of record to have successfully completed a marathon or longer race in every state. And just two years later he had completed the round of states two more times.
Also, according to records, he is only the seventh athlete in the world to complete 100 or more marathons or longer races in a calendar year. He did it in 2012 and was named Extreme Runner of the Year for his feat.
And he’s not done yet. Later this month he’s running a half-marathon in Texarkana and then a marathon in Memphis. He’s debating whether to tackle another marathon in Cooksville, Tenn., the day before the Memphis run. It’s not the back-to-back 26 miles races that worry him. “It’s the seven-and-half-hour drive. Cooksville is on the other side of Nashville,” Hughes explained.
Overall, not bad for a guy who hung up his running shoes shortly after college for about 25 years. “I was hit with arthritis and it wasn’t until some new medicines came out on the market to relieve the pain and symptoms that I was able to run again,” he said. “I take one brand until my body gets used to it and then switch to another.”
He plans to keep running until he just can’t do it anymore, and that may come soon as he has Stage 4 osteoarthritis which is considered severe, and the medical community doesn’t have a Stage 5. His last marathon could come in March in Little Rock.
“I’ve had three doctors recently tell me three different things,” Hughes said. One doctor in Chicago told him to stop as it was affecting his quality of life, but the doctor didn’t understand the enjoyment Hughes gets out of running.
Another doctor told Hughes his joints were shot, but his cardio was excellent and that cardio was more important than good joints. A third doctor said keep running and take cortisone shots if needed.
Hughes said he has always run. “As a child I liked running and it has just stayed with me,” he said.
The marathoner was a member of Hall High School’s 1966 championship track team.” I wasn’t big and strong. I was only 5 feet 5 inches and 125 pounds, but running was something I could do,” he said.
From there Hughes went to the University of Arkansas and made the track team.
“This was before the great track coach John McDonald came in and started winning all those championships, so we were pretty bad,” he quipped.
Hughes actually called himself a “participant.” “You know when you have to have enough people on the squad to compete, I was that guy that made us eligible.”
But he didn’t spend time mourning the poorness of the track team, instead he also jumped on the school’ swimming and diving team and was the Arkansas one-meter springboard diving champ.
One to always be on the go, it was a tough decision to hang up his running shoes at the age of 31 because of severe osteoarthritis, competing in just one marathon that year.
From then until 56 he focused on raising his family, working with the Corps of Engineers in Chicago and Hawaii. “I liked Hawaii, but my wife wasn’t fond of it. Of course she’s a red head, sunburned easily and didn’t swim,” he quipped.
He also served the city of Jacksonville for eight years as an alderman.
It wasn’t until advancement in arthritis treatment came up with some prescription medicines to help with pain and relieve symptoms that Hughes got back into the running and got into it with vengeance, making up for time lost.
At 56 he ran in 10 marathons and 3 ultra marathons and at 63 it was 57 marathons and 17 ultra marathons. An ultra marathon is any race longer than the standard marathon distance of 26.2 miles. The most poplar ultra marathons are 31, 50, 62 or 100 miles in length.
Why all the running now?
The retired lawyer simply said, “I love to run.” He added that he started thinking about his legacy. “What would my kids and grandchildren remember me by? I wanted it to be about endurance and the ability to finish what I start,” he said.
He also had two choices: focus on speed or the number of races. “Generally the more races you run, the slower your times because you are also pacing yourself for the next race,” he explained.
Hughes said any time under five hours is usually good enough to place in his age division.
One of his best times came in 2012 in his 84th of 100 marathons that year. “I clocked a time of 4:22. That was a fast time,” he said.
So, did he win the race? No. “There were a lot of fast old men in that marathon.”
And there’s been more to his marathons than just getting from Point A to Point B, especially in Anchorage.
Once running that marathon he and other racers were detoured through the woods because a mama moose and her calf were stopped in the middle of the race path. “They say a mama moose is worse than a mama bear,” Hughes quipped.
Even with that incident he said he loves running in Alaska.
Then in a race in Montana, aptly named the Grizzly Marathon, race officials chased away a big bear from an aid station minutes before Hughes got there. “What was neat about that race was that the awards were casts of bear claws. A papa bear claw for first, a mama bear claw for second and a baby bear claw for third,” he said.
Hughes said some races have been tougher than others. “In a marathon in Leadville, Colorado, it started out at 10,000 feet and went through Mosquito Pass at 13,000 feet. After the first quarter mile I said, ‘Oh (put your own expletive in), this is going to be a long day.’”
His recent marathon in Sedona, the 305th of his career was also on the tougher side.
“It was all hills and warmer than the sponsors thought and water became scarce. There were a lot of leg cramps toward the end.”
Probably the most memorable marathon for Hughes was his 300th one in Darlington, S.C. “The organizers had a 10-by-20-foot banner of me hanging from a hook and ladder truck to celebrate my achievement, and they gave me a big trophy that included a piece of the race track.”
Hughes’ said his father, a big time college athlete, has been one of his inspirations. “He went to Alabama to play football, and he made the All-SEC Sophomore Team. He fought in World War II, and then went to Arkansas and lettered in football, basketball, baseball and track. He drove in the winning run in a baseball game, and then jogged up to the track and ran in the track meet. He may have been the best athlete to ever come out of Central High School,” Hughes bragged.
Hughes may not have inherited all the athleticism, but he certain equals or tops his dad in toughness and perseverance.
Extreme Runner of 2012 Steve Hughes, 65, of Little Rock has run marathons in all 50 states more than once in spite of suffering from chronic osteoarthritis. He just completed the Sedona, Ariz., Marathon, the 305th of his career, finishing third.
