Carly van Pinxten from Sint-Michielsgestel has been chosen runner of the year by readers and editors of the magazine Runners World. As an award, the 71-year-old sports enthusiast received a gilded statuette of a runner from editor Rens Muller on Monday.
Carly looks, as you would expect from a sports person, slim and without an excess gram of fat. Not surprising, because he has been running since he was sixteen: “I wanted to take good care of my body,” says the enthusiastic athlete. At an advanced age, he still runs several times a week. What he likes about running? “Connecting people and running in a group. You can’t just start running, it takes a few months to build up.”
“Runners also like to eat pasta.”
For Carly, running is part of a healthy lifestyle. “I am 71 years old, very healthy and fit. That includes a healthy diet. Eating vegetables every day is important and runners also like to eat pasta.” Of course, running is no guarantee that you will stay healthy and grow old. But it does help. Carly says he is lucky to have all of his family alive and well.
He was nominated by his daughter Linda, who also runs herself. It runs in the family. Linda thinks her father deserves the award because his enthusiasm got thousands of people running.
Linda: “My father is the most passionate runner and trainer in Brabant and the surrounding area. It has been his passion and life from an early age. He likes to share his knowledge and guided runners in groups as well as individually. After his retirement he started giving running training to high school students and teachers. It is his greatest reward if he has converted someone to running.”
“I have now completed fifty marathons.”
What is Carly’s secret that got and continues to get so many people running? “They say I have the ability to make others enthusiastic. After more than half a century of running, I have a lot of knowledge and experience. I have now completed fifty marathons. I see it as a mission to make others enjoy running at to bring.”
And that mission is not over yet. Carly’s condition is tip-top. Despite his age, he doesn’t think about giving up running yet. For him, the award is the crown on his work.