VOA常速英语:LA marathoner celebrates 90th birthday with 90-mile run

Among the 25,000 people who ran in Sunday's Los Angeles Marathon, runner Julian Myers joined in the race for five kilometers. Mike O'Sullivan reports, it was part a bigger marathon to mark his 90th birthday.

Julian Myers had a long career as a Hollywood publicist, working with stars including Marilyn Monroe, Gregory Peck and Dennis Weaver. Now retired, he devotes a big part of each day to running, and decided with his wife Patsy to celebrate his 90th birthday by running 90 miles, or 145 kilometers, from San Diego to Los Angeles.

"Part of that is dangerous highways," explained Myers. "So Patsy wisely said, run your 90 miles, but run it anywhere you want in San Diego, or Orange County or Los Angeles. So we saw many of the beauty spots.

He started February 22 at the Hotel Del Coronado, a resort near San Diego that he first visited as a youngster 85 years ago. Along the way, Myers and his friends ran on scenic beaches.

He finished by joining a five-kilometer leg of the Los Angeles Marathon Sunday. Myers intended to invite 90 of his closest friends to celebrate afterwards, but ended up inviting 390.

He told them the secret of staying healthy is having a goal.

"The main thing is to find something that will take you to at least 100 to achieve, preferably of some social or civic value," Myers said.

Myers says his friends have always been important, and his goal is promoting a holiday he created called Amigo Day. It comes from the Spanish word for "friend," and he says the idea is to greet anyone in a friendly way. He suggests you do it the first Sunday of each month, but says the idea is really to make new friends any time.

"And then you supplement that by every morning, for one hour going outdoors and do something physical," he said.

Myers spends at least one hour each day running. He says that staying active and surrounding yourself with friends keeps you from noticing the aches and pains of aging.