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[June, 2026]

This web site honors runners who have completed at least one marathon in each of 7 consecutive decades of their lives. It is dedicated to "Old John" A. Kelley, the first to do so.

Kelley still holds the record for the most years from first marathon to last. He completed his first marathon at age 20 in 1928 (4 years before his first Boston) and his last at Boston in 1992. 

That gives John A. Kelley a record 64 year range from first marathon to last.

[UPDATE, Spring, 2026: Jeff Galloway was planning to hit his 8th decade of marathon running on Dec 14, 2025, in Honolulu. However, a household tripping accident a week prior to the marathon forced him to cancel his effort. He died several months later on February 25, 2026.]

At present there are 11 known members of the 7 Decades Marathon Club. See the Runners page for information about their first and most recent marathons. It's extremely hard to get to 8 Decades, the next obvious goal, without a marathon in your teenage years.

Mark Bauman has the longest marathon streak, 57 years at Boston, but ran his first at age 20, like Kelley. He has completed 6 Decades in total.

Only 3 of the 7 Decades Marathon runners are believed to be still running marathons: Amby Burfoot, Steve DeBoer, and Dave McGillivray.

There are surely other runners who belong in the 7 Decades Marathon club. We simply haven't discovered them yet. When we do, we will add them here.

Amby Burfoot maintains this site. He will turn 80 in mid-summer 2026, and hopes to run and finish the Hartford Marathon in October, 2026. This would give him 8 Decades Marathon.

Run long and healthy. 

Keizo Yamada, Amby Burfoot, John A. Kelley, probably 1996

Run long and healthy.