Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 57, April 2014 | Page 19

Living Legend

Life at 70!
ns
gi I
be

Image: Jetline Action Photo & Courtesy Derry Devine

Running 100 marathons is a
lifetime goal for many runners,
but few set themselves a goal
of 100 in a decade, let alone
100 after they turn 70… but that
is exactly what Derry Devine
recently achieved – and he isn’t
finished yet! – BY SEAN FALCONER

n mid-November, the ever jovial
78-year-old Derry Devine of the K-Way
Varsity Old Boys Club in Cape Town
lined up at the Winelands Marathon in
Stellenbosch to run his 99th marathon
since turning 70. A week later he
completed the Die Vlakte Marathon
from Heidelberg to White Sands to
complete his ton. “I run just to keep fit
mostly, but I thought I could pass the
figure of marathons I did before my
70s, which was two in my 50s, when I
started running at age 58, and 88 in my
60s,” says Derry. “It’s a really skewed
result, isn’t it – and there’s no way that
will be repeated in my 80s, I can assure
you! If I manage five or six in my 80s I
will be very happy.”

Incredibly, within weeks of achieving
his goal, Derry also ran his 500th half
marathon and 400th 10km since taking
up running, and his meticulously kept
logbook also lists 20 ultras, including
two Comrades, five Two Oceans and
eight Cape Town 100 milers. However,
a week after Die Vlakte, his intended
191st marathon didn’t quite go to plan.
“I wanted to run the new Prison to
Prison Marathon in Worcester, but my
calf gave in at 13km. I could barely
walk, let alone run, so I had my first
marathon bail in 19 years!”

Peninsula Marathon 2013.

Dec 2013 quarter page.indd 1

The topic of bailing actually gets Derry
chuckling. “I have bailed twice in the
Two Oceans and once in the Comrades,
and once in the Tygerberg 30km, and
it’s always a muscle that gets me, but in
the 2012 Paarlberg Half Marathon, the
skies opened and we were absolutely
soaked before we even got to the start.
Rob Lanning and I had just started

running, then looked at each other
and said, ‘Let’s go back and have a
nice breakfast at the Wimpy.’ So we
turned around and that was that, but
the club got to know about it and I
was awarded the bailer’s award for
2012, for bailing after 100m in a
21km.”

IRISH EYES
ARE SMILING

Derry was born in Ireland and has
been married to Maura for 53 years.
They have three daughters, living in
Belgium, Luxemburg and Canada.
The Devines came to South Africa
for