Roger Trader and I went to the same high school in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. I could never have imagined that 56 years after we left school we would be running in the same athletic club. Achilles Amateur Athletic Association, the club Roger joined over 55 years ago. I remember him as a skinny, unassuming guy with glasses who was a very good cross country runner. But I only learned the full story after I took up running at 60, later joined Achilles, and interviewed him recently for my book. It turns out that he was asked by the school cross country captain if he would run in a Saturday league race as a substitute for a member of the team who was sick. He had spotted Roger doing his own running thing on the side of a field where the city’s serious young runners trained with a coach. Roger agreed. After finishing his hockey match for our school’s third team he cycled six kilometres to the cross country venue. Dressed in his track suit, as he didn’t have running gear, he streaked ahead of his team mates, finishing just behind the provincial cross country champion. That year he also won our school’s cross country title and was awarded colours for athletics.

Roger is still a skinny, unassuming guy with glasses who is very good at running. This year he won the South African half marathon title in the 70 to 79 age category, and was second in the SA 10 km championships. I share more of his stories and running wisdom in my book. But his accomplishments are not what motivates him the most to keep on running in his seventies. It’s the friendships and camaraderie in the running community. “That’s the fun of it. It’s got to be fun. Otherwise it’s not worth doing,” says Roger.

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