Balmain resident Ray James completed his 189th marathon at Mudgee on Sunday and he aims to finish number 200 in April next year.
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A familiar face at the Mudgee Running Festival, Mr James has missed only two marathons in the space of 13 or so years. The 65-year-old continues to complete each race with a simple philosophy.
“It’s like the wake of a boat, everything is behind you,” he said.
The plan to finish his 200th marathon at Canberra is part of a personal journey for the Sydney-based solicitor.
“I had cancer last year. I’ve had my prostate out and radiotherapy, I’ve still got cancer and it’s not getting any better. I’m kind of on a mission,” he said.
“I’ve kind of said to my wife it’s always been a part of my life for 16 years. I can’t say I’ve got this illness that might get me sooner or later and then cancel out a big part of my life.”
“There is a marathon on in Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains this weekend but I wanted to come back to Mudgee. I enjoy this and I don’t care if they don’t change the course, it’s lovely.”
Mr James is not using his health as an excuse to run marathons, rather he sees it as what he always wanted to do.
“I’m really a runner. I do other things but that’s where my karma is,” he said.
“A ran a few marathons in the early 1980s before I had some issues and then I came back at the Canberra marathon in 1998 and it holds a special place as that’s where I started back running. I ran my 100th marathon there.”
Returning to marathon running 16 years ago was also part of a battle against alcoholism.
“My wife said to me ‘you’re joking, you’re 80 kilograms and you haven’t run for 15 years. I trained for six months and went to Canberra. Then I ran a time better than what I did 15 years ago,” he said.
“My wife has always supported me. I’m better for the experience but wish I didn’t have the experience.”
As for the running, Mr James finished the Mudgee marathon ninth overall in three hours, 35 minutes and 37 seconds.
“I’m kind of a rhythm runner. It’s basically downhill for the last 18 kilometres with a few ups and downs [in Mudgee],” he said.
Now he moves on to the next marathon.
“I’ve got them ticked off as long as I don’t get injured or somebody doesn’t cancel one but there is two up my sleeve in spares so my back is not quite against the wall [for April],” he said.
“You start running these marathons and then all of sudden you realise you better start planning. I’ve got a lot of friends [in Canberra] and it would be nice to share the experience with them instead of finishing somewhere by yourself and then jump on a plane and come home.
“So I have kind of mapped it out with a tiny push in this half of the year, more than I normally do but I manage.”
He regularly competes in marathons up and down the east coast of Australia on weekends. He came to Mudgee when the Running Festival first started.
“I knew the race director at the time and he wanted people to come up and give the event some momentum,” Mr James said.
“There is a marathon on in Glenbrook in the Blue Mountains this weekend but I wanted to come back to Mudgee. I enjoy this and I don’t care if they don’t change the course, it’s lovely.”
