Mike Beeman (00:00.15) So every day when I go out, I ask my body, how do you feel today? And I'll start to jog and all right, it's feeling pretty good. so some days it just doesn't click. I can walk forever. I could go out and walk probably a marathon right now as we're talking. Running it would be a whole nother ball game. So my suggestion to people is slow down. I've always, I always have believed in long slow distance. think people run too fast and they get beat up. If you do anything wrong when you're running, if you do anything like I pronate or I supinate, whatever it is, the faster you run, the more that problem is going to exist. Kamal Datta (00:49.474) Welcome Mike, glad to have you on this pod. I'm glad to be here Kamel. I really am looking forward to talking to you and I'm excited. Yeah, 48 Boston Marathons back to back you're running. That's an amazing, amazing accomplishment. So let's, can you take us back? Maybe you can start with a quick introduction of yourselves. What do you do, where you're living and take us back. How did it all started for you? That's a good question. I was a typical athlete growing up in high school and I actually started running in high school to lose weight because I was a chubby kid. And when I was a freshman in high school, I wanted to make the basketball team. And the basketball coach told me, I had played football. The basketball coach told me, says, Mike, you're a pretty good basketball player. but you got to stop eating pancakes for breakfast. You got to start eating Wheaties. You to some weight, And it hurt my feelings. hurt my feelings, but it was probably the best thing that he could have said to me because I made the decision then that that summer between my freshman and sophomore year, I was going to run cross country. So I started running. didn't, you know, it was and there was no There was no internet. And so I just went out and started in no garments. No, there was no digital watches. had a sweep second watch. And so I went to the local dirt track and ran four times around it. And I thought I was running a four minute mile. And it was, it was probably six or five, which is not terrible. Thought I was going to die and went. went home and my mom goes, what happened to you? I said, I ran a mile. So then, you know, I just kept running and I came back to school that fall and, uh, you know, I had slimmed down. lost 15 pounds and the cross country coach, cross country coach. When I walked in the locker room, he goes, Oh wow. And he shook his head that Oh wow. A moment stuck with me for the rest of my life. Like I made a change. Kamal Datta (03:11.278) in my body and so noticeable that the coach was like, oh wow. And so I was pretty good runner in high school, pretty good. Like we didn't have the 5K distance. We ran anywhere from two and a half to three miles depending on the course. wasn't a universal 5K. So I was probably for three miles, I was probably around 17 minutes, which is not terrible, but I was a real good basketball player. enough that I got recruited. And I went to Merrimack College in North Andover, Mass in 1974. And again, you know, I was a recruit and I was out running one day to get ready for the time trial, we had to run two miles in under 12 minutes, you know, in order to be on the basketball team, I think it was 12, it could have been 13. And the cross country coach spotted me. And he said, I want you to run cross country. I said, well, let me check with a basketball coach. The basketball coach goes, that's fine. So I ran cross country, the first meet and one of my teammates was Dave McGilvery. Oh, wow. He was now the race director of the Boston Marathon. So we became teammates. We became friends. then he ran the Boston Marathon in 1977. I remember going down to watch him. And that's when I fell in love with the Boston Marathon, started training. Qualified as a senior in college and then ran it in April of 1978. so, um, and so doing that April, I re qualified for 1979 and, know, and the easiest way to stay in Boston in the early years was just re qualified while you were there. And back then it was three hours, three hours for my age category. Then it went down to two 50 for about five years. had to run under. two hours in 50 minutes. So the people that complain about, you know, the three hour qualifying time, man, we had it even tougher then, but I was running in the two 40s and two 30s. So 250 was, in all due respect was kind of slow to me. And I've stayed, I've stayed obviously friends with David McGilvery over the years and Merrimack College. So Merrimack College really gave me my start and you know, Kamal Datta (05:37.08) father time has hit us all. I don't care how old you are. And one of the things I did when I was younger, because I was kind of running with a fast crowd. some of the older people that I respected, like Bill Rogers and Greg Meyer and all these really elite athletes, elite, I said, does it bother you that you're gonna that you're slowing down? Does it bother you? And they go, Nope. Running is running. I've always remembered that this guy that had run his name is Fred Doyle. He said he ran a sub four minute mile and I said, Fred, does it bother you that you couldn't run a nine minute mile now? And he says, no, it's running is running. And so I prepared myself mentally that I was going to slow down. And I believe that that's half the problem with people that stop running is they can't accept the fact that they're slower. But who really cares? Who cares? Like if I went out this morning and I did six and a half miles and I said to you, I ran at a seven minute pace, you're gonna go, wow. If I said I ran 10 minute pace, you'd say, wow, that's great. It's all relative. It's up here. And so I know I have the six and a half miles underneath my belt. It doesn't matter how fast I run. It doesn't matter if I walk the whole thing. I was out moving, right? So I believe in sustainability. Cool. Um, what's that 1977 race where Dave did the across the country from Medford, Oregon to Medford mass. Yeah, that was in 19. I want to say I, I know that because I talked to David on this one. I think you talked very elaborately on that journey. Okay. I remember that. So what finished in the family from Medford, Oregon to Medford mass and when he did that, we were obviously. in good contact and so on and so forth. And I ran with him. I ran with him on the route and he finished in Fenway Park. Fenway Park, yeah. It was August, I believe. And what a great journey. was incredible. was the first, really the first person to ever do it. And he did a book about it called The Last Pick. Kamal Datta (08:00.972) Yeah. And I'm in that book. I'm on page 162, I believe. nice. Yeah. I'm in his book. In fact, he had to call me to get permission to use my name in the book. And I said, of course, Dave, that's fine. And he had a big, huge Winnebago, if you will, that traveled with him, him and his buddies. It made it all the way across the United States. And we got to Medford, Oregon when he hit his last mile and finished the Winnebago, like the engine blew up and it was so miraculous that it ended and the Winnebago was never used again, I don't believe. So it's a great, great story. David, David is a man. He is a incredible guy and he just. So full of energy. He is so full of energy. I'll probably, I plan on coming up to Boston. Well, actually I am gonna come up to Boston late June, coming up there to do a little road race in Gaustown, New Hampshire, but I'm gonna come down to Boston and hang out, go to a Red Sox game and so on and so forth. it's a nice, I absolutely, it's my favorite city. I gotta tell you, it's my favorite. Yeah, no, that's awesome. Mike, how was it like, So you have seen 48 of Boston's and I'm probably have seen some transitions like I'm sure it was different than seventies or eighties or nineties to where it is today. What are the transition you have seen in Boston that maybe strike out to you? Well, the first thing is, you know, technology. So if I take this thing off right here, the garment, you know, we didn't have the luxury of, you know, we had no technology in Right. Honestly, you know, back then, and I talked to Dick Beardsley about this. He came in second in the 1982 Boston Marathon. I was on his podcast. back then in the seventies and eighties, it was like everybody was fast. There was no charity runners. There was no, I don't want to offend anybody, but the race was over in four hours. Like everybody was done. Like you. Kamal Datta (10:24.462) Either you ran fast or you didn't run. And I'm not trying to be offensive. think everybody qual- and the qualifying times were so tough. The field was smaller. So 5,000, 6,000, 7,000. And then it started coming down in the mid eighties because of the money. Uh, the majors started offering money in Boston. Nope, nope, we're not going to do it. So 1986, they changed that. I see at the elite runners in, uh, because in 84 and 85, Jeff Smith won it back to back. And, um, they said, we want to get some of the real elites in here. So that's when it changed. Then the numbers started going up and then they started relaxing the qualifying times. And all of a sudden the population went up and it really peaked in 1996 because that was the 100th running of the Boston marathon. So you had. 35,000 people running, which is the population nowadays. So what's happened is our population of the United States and the world has gotten bigger. This carrot, you know, called qualifying time is dangled in front of the rabbit. So everybody wants to qualify. It's their Mount Rushmore, personal Mount Rushmore. So they want to achieve that. So you have more people, more demand trying to get into the race. Yeah. Less people are getting in. So, to get into it is extremely hard. think it's harder to get in as a charity runner than it is to qualify. Yeah. and, we is the quarter century club. That's what they call my group. We don't have to qualify anymore. We are grandfathered in. So whether I run four hours or five hours or, you know, six hours we're in, as long as we finish before the clock. stops. The clock stops at 5 30 I believe and that's seven hours. So we're in no matter what and you know that's it's not a privilege. I don't make the rules but I'm certainly very happy that they allow me to participate. What is that quarter century club? So have to run consecutive 25? Consecutively 25. Okay. Kamal Datta (12:46.606) As a qualified runner. As a qualified runner. Official finish that is recorded by the Boston Athletic Association. I So if you ran it as a bandit, doesn't count. If you ran it, you didn't have a number, you didn't count. So it's extremely, like they make sure, they're meticulous on whether you've done it or not. And I get my notification and I it was 2003. I think I got a letter. I think it was a letter or something. They said, you've been recognized as one of the people that have run 25 Boston Marathons in a row. I didn't, I knew I had, but I didn't know that there was any big deal about it. didn't, it wasn't publicized. Like it wasn't a big deal. Now it's in the Boston Marathon media guide. it's, it's very public knowledge and we have a meeting. or assembly of the quarter century club on Saturday before Boston. They take pictures and they have seen, I've seen your picture on that. Probably that they published the BS side that, you know, the quarter century club too. Oh, that's pretty nice. Yeah. And they gave us the people that have run 40 or more. got a, we got like a little hall of fame plaque that says we've run more than 1000 miles on the Boston marathon course. Of course, in my case, I've 1260 something after this year. So it's kind of a cool, it's a really pretty tile that they gave us and I got it this year. I didn't see it coming. I cried when I got it because I thought of all the years, how tough it's been to get in tough years of, you know, I've battled injuries, I've battled sickness, I battled weather. Obviously in 2013 we battled something completely different, but you know, it's been a journey and someday, you know, the journey is going to end. can't live forever. We can't run forever, but I'm very grateful and I'm proud. Now that's so true. Was it always that you used to qualify for the next years during the run this year? So are you have gone in different ways to qualify to 25? would say 80 % Kamal Datta (15:14.222) 80 % of the time, 80 % of the time, I re qualified while I was there. Okay. And then if I had a, if I had a clunker, that's what I call them. I would go to Lowell, Massachusetts, Lowell, Massachusetts has a marathon called the Bay state. Yeah. And I'd go qualify there, but I'll be honest with you. That is, I mean, that's risky. Like you have to do it. Why? The window to qualify was much. bigger than it is now. Now, if you want to qualify for next year's Boston Marathon, you've got to qualify before September 12th, I believe, because that's when the window to enter exists. Unless you've already run one. Say if you've run one in February of this year, that counts. It's a year and a half that you could submit it. So people are running them right now in order to qualify. for 26, but our window, you could run a marathon in March of the current year and use that to qualify for Boston. That's how unique and neat it was. And I think that's kind of a neat memory is the fact that some people would run a marathon in February to qualify for Boston in April, in February, two months away. And that was the innocence, the innocence of running. That's what I mean. not just me, but a bunch of males and females were just very fit and we could go out and run a marathon on a weekend qualifying and eight weeks later run Boston. I mean, it was just a different time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Now I have to ask you what you get out of running Mike, cause you've run so much. It's in the Hall of Fame in Boston. And again, Boston is considered the elite of the elitist race in the world. Um, and you've been fortunate to run 48 of them consecutively. What do you get out of it, Mike? Um, for me, it's, um, I get that euphoric feeling. It's spiritual, you know, I talked to the big guy up above. I, I just feel better, you know, I have energy. I have, I'm in a good mood. I smile a lot and I attribute it to running. And if I don't exercise. Kamal Datta (17:39.833) I'm not a different person, but I don't feel as complete in my day. It's kind of like the gentleman that the military guy that says the first thing you should do when you get up in the morning is make your bed, which I do. Then I thank the good Lord for my existence. Then I go out and exercise. And it's like, I've done something today for myself, no matter what else happens to me today. Yeah, I've done that. I personally think exercise is helps with your longevity. Now I could, after the podcast, I could walk out, walk down the stairs and have a heart attack and drop dead. But I think I've given myself a better chance to live and, you know, I'll take my lifestyle. I think I'm very active, besides running on a typical day on this wonderful thing called the Garmin, which I never, well, I never heard of. steps before a garment. Like I didn't know what steps were. That didn't exist in the 80s and 90s. I think it started coming out in the early 2000s. I didn't know what a step was. But my step average per day with my running is about 18 to 20,000 a day, which is very high for somebody, anybody, right? The goal, I think, if you look on the you know, recommendations is probably about eight to 10,000. think, yeah, yeah. I just love, I love being active and I think it stems from my athletic background. And I'll say this again, the fact that that freshman basketball coach told me I was chubby and fat and I didn't want that, that resonated in my head that I was out of shape. And I just didn't want, chose not to be that way anymore. Now that's pretty amazing. Now, since you're, you know, running so long and you're continuing to do so, I'm sure you have figured something out to sustain for that long. Either it's the lifestyle or, you know, the training or the way you keep it injury free. I'm sure injury is bound to happen. What would be some of your key areas that you would say can, if I can pass it on for folks to keep an eye on what those would be? Kamal Datta (20:07.95) Well, you know, I think you have to, at a certain age, mine was probably after 60. This is the 70th year of my existence. I turned 69 in May and early May. So I'm 69 in one month, years old. And I started doing a kind of the Jeff Galloway modified, you know, run walk. So I'll do a I started doing ratios of two minutes running one minute walking to one, to one. Then if I felt better, I'd go three to one, four to one. So every day when I go out, I asked my body, how do you feel today? And I'll start to jog and all right, it's feeling pretty good. And so some days it just doesn't click. I can walk forever. I could go out and walk probably a marathon right now as we're talking, running it. would be a whole nother ball game. So my suggestion to people is slow down. I've always, I always have believed in long slow distance. think people run too fast and they get beat up. If you do anything wrong when you're running, if you do anything like I pronate or I, you know, supinate, whatever it is, the faster you run, the more that problem is going to exist. And it's going to accentuate more when you're running fast and slow. some people would argue with that, but, for me, I just don't beat myself up as much. ran a 15 kilometer race yesterday and I ran with a young lady. Anybody that I run with is younger than me. So she was, was young lady, but she was 49 and she says, I want to do the run walk with you. I said, okay. So we started out and I think our first mile was. 1120 and then the second miles 1103 the third mile was like 1030 and the rest of them were 1010 minutes the rest of the way, which is not terrible. It's not ridiculously slow. And we just did this. We would, we would run for like four minutes, walk for a minute, four one, five one, six one. And I think the last mile we did seven minutes running in one minute walk. And then we finished it like, you know, a 10 Kamal Datta (22:31.662) 40 pace or something, which is, it was a decent time. But at the end, she looked at me she goes, I feel like I didn't even run. That's how good she felt. And I felt the same way. Like I felt so it's called sustainable. So if I had beaten myself up and run nine minute pace, which I could today, I wouldn't have run because I'd be so sore and lame. And it was just great to be able to get up the next day and do it again. So I love the philosophy, sustainability. Keep going. Being able to keep going. And I think that applies to all facets of life, whether it's eating or drinking or sleeping, you know, gotta get your sleep. You know, if you run on two hours of sleep, you're not gonna, that's not sustainable. You might be able to do it one time. I know I can't. I'll fall asleep on you. But I think it's all part of balance. Yeah, yeah. That is so true. And I know I was talking to think Sean Bradford. I think he has this company called Trainers One. And his key observation based on millions and millions of people's data is you're prone to injury when you go really fast, like the track workouts or the hill work or people want to really push themselves. That's why it's not the long distance runs that you do the zone two runs. is more on where to go push yourself and then you tend to injure yourself. keeping an eye on those is probably can take a step back and to see why I'm doing this and maybe not be that injured that you don't have to call off the race two weeks before Boston Marathon or in a major goal that you're trying to achieve. So I think it looks like you're also in the similar philosophy that you're operating as well. So it's great to know as well. Kamal Datta (24:33.166) 48 times crossing the finish line in Boston. And I'll be curious about your this year's experience, Mike, it'll be fun to share. Like how was 2025 Boston for you? 2025 was probably the most enjoyable Boston marathon I've ever had. And the reason being, I don't know if you're on social media, but I have a very strong social media presence. And I'm not saying that. to be arrogant or full of myself. What happened is I'm a big presence on TikTok. you do? Okay, okay. I mean, And so before the race, when I get up there, a lot of people knew that I was running Boston Marathon and I have this presence on TikTok. So when I went to get my number on that Friday at the Hines Auditorium before the race, I would guess probably close to 200 people stopped me to take a picture because they'd seen me on TikTok, which was, it kind of your self-esteem goes right up. And I had to do a, on Saturday we had our picture taken for the quarter century club. And then I had to go over to Rona and do a spot for them. And there were people waiting for me to get there to talk to me, which was nice. And then during the race, the amount of people that had signs for me and just, you know, screaming for me and so on and so forth. So I made a tick tock at the finish line and, it went viral and it did last year too. so what happened is it. The Boston.com picked it up because somebody reposted it in Boston.com did a big article about. me on boston.com digital and that got picked up by runners world. So runners world called me the next day in the airport and they did a huge thing on runners world. And the headline was Mike Beeman runs his 48th Boston marathon and steals the show on social media. So what they were saying is a 68 year old was the biggest Kamal Datta (26:57.038) social media presence as opposed to a young influencer. then, so that while I was at the airport talking to the runners world, People Magazine called and they they did an article. So if you Google my name, my name in Boston Marathon, it says Google search, you're going to get all of those articles. They'll all spill. I think it's funny because I was telling people, because now I took my time. When you asked the original question, to get back to the original question, I was cruising along like 11, 11, 20 minute miles until I got to BC. And they were such, they were so involved with me at Boston College. They had signs, they had t-shirts with my name on them. I stopped and talked to them. And so the last six miles I just took in. all of these people. mean, if I ran past you and you had a sign with my name on it, and you're yelling Mike, Mike, and I look at you, and I look away, how are you gonna feel you're gonna feel so I would come over to you, give you a high five, give you a hug, whatever it was. And so I took my time and just took in the last six miles. So my time would have been under five hours, but I said the heck with it. And so it was like five and a half hours. But guess what? I had the best time. Not this time. I had the best this time. Like I just had a ball and I can't say enough about the support and everything. So it was my favorite Boston Marathon for that reason. Oh, wow. That's great to know. Yeah, I saw some of the social media posts and actually one of the posts that I came across when I tried to connect with you that, hey, I'd love to chat with you, on this part too. So That's great to know. Thank you for sharing. But I had a great chatting with you, Mike. Thank you for sharing your story, your journey where it started and 48 consecutive Boston Marathons. And you had a ball in this year's Boston Marathon too. thank you for sharing that. Glad to have you on the pod. Thank you for having me, Kamal. I appreciate it. You have a great day. Thanks