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2006
Busa Bushwhack
Press Release
Trail
Race Honors 76 Year Old Runner from
Marlborough
,
MA
9/04/06
On Sunday, September 10th, the Greater Framingham Running Club
(GFRC) will sponsor the 3rd annual Busa Bushwhack 9.3/5.3 mile trail
race at
Callahan
State Park
in
Framingham
,
MA
. The race honors long time club
member and trail/distance runner extraordinaire, Rich Busa. At age 76, Busa, who
hails from
Marlborough
,
MA
, logs about 1,300 miles each year running on trails and mountains or in
snowshoes during the winter months. He
started running in 1945 and estimates that he has accumulated over 40,000 miles
to his running record. Busa’s passion for distance started at age 53 when he
ran his first marathon. Shortly
thereafter he decided not to stop at 26.2 miles, which fueled his fervor for
ultramarathoning. Since turning 65
Busa has finished first place in his division in 177 of the 253 races that he
has run, 124 of which had no other runner in his age group.
He’s also completed 66 marathons in his running career thus far.
At age 72 he was the oldest runner to finish the Vermont 100 Mile
Endurance Run, which he completed eight times.
This year he finished his 19th consecutive Nipmuck Trail
Marathon in
Connecticut
, the longest streak in the history of the 22 year old race.
It’s no wonder that later this month Busa will be inducted into the
Hall Of Fame of the New England 65 Plus Runners Club.
Also to his credit, Busa boasts two US National Snowshoe
competition gold medals which he won in 2005 & 2006 in
Alaska
and
Vermont
. In 2003 Busa’s running exploits
were captured by Sports Illustrated Magazine.
This landed him a spot on the prestigious Team Saucony, a popular
sporting goods manufacturer. In the
North East trail/mountain running circuit Busa is known as “The Saucony
Man”. An energetic retiree, and
proud grandfather of five, Busa embodies the essence of health and will be
awarded the 2006 GFRC Lifetime Achievement Award at the Busa Bushwhack Trail
Race on Sunday.
On or off the trail Rich Busa is an inspiration to all who
know him and has a reputation for being a really nice guy.
His many outstanding physical endurance achievements while highly coveted
and unattainable by most, do not detract from his friendly and gracious
personality. Busa spends much of his time teaching and training new runners and
converting road runners into trail devotees.
One of the keys to Busa’s longevity for running injury free into his
golden years is the fact that he has been running trails for so long.
Busa says, “Trails are better on the knees and the body over-all” and
for sure he is living proof.