Michael Calvert: Marathon Man

You’re probably already somewhat familiar with Michael Calvert. As executive director of Downey’s Chamber of Commerce, he’s often found busy around the city.

But when he’s not aiding businesses, helping cut ribbons or coordinating parades, you might find him doing something just as intensive – training for a marathon.

In fact, Calvert, 68, is counted among a select few individuals with the distinction of having run every Los Angeles Marathon to date.

It didn’t start in LA though.

He started his running career in his early 30s when a coworker asked him to help her train for the Palos Verdes Marathon.

“I was in a really bad work situation - just a horrible boss and everything - and one of the women I worked with, her husband had run the PV Marathon before,” said Calvert. “She says, ‘I really wanna do it, will you train with me?’”

“She said it would be something fun, and we could gripe about our jobs, so I said okay.”

It would be Calvert’s first marathon. He says he joined the race “not realizing that the PV Marathon was the second hardest course in the country at the time.”

Then came the 1984 Summer Olympics, where Calvert sat in the Coliseum and watched the “dramatic” finish of the first women’s marathon.

“I want to say it’s a woman from Switzerland that came in staggering and wavering back and forth, and people were trying to help her and realized they couldn’t help her because they could get disqualified,” said Calvert. “She finally made it to the finish line and I kind of thought, ‘Well, that’s for me!’”

Well, maybe not the staggering and the wavering; Calvert has never had any illusions of winning a marathon.

“I was thinking I could understand the challenge of the event; that was something I’d like to try,” said Calvert. “That wasn’t my goal, to stagger into the Coliseum.”

LA would start its own marathon shortly thereafter.

“I thought, ‘Okay, I will run this,’” said Calvert.

And he did. Then he did again. And again. And again.

Calvert has run in all 36 LA Marathons so far. It’s an accomplishment that has earned him the distinction of being called a “legacy runner.”

According to Calvert, there are 127 legacy runners.

He added that “at this point, it’s really hard to quit.”

“My oldest son and I were talking the other day and he says, ‘Have you ever thought about what you might do about not doing it,’” said Calvert. “At that particular time, the course of the marathon ended in Downtown LA, so there were a lot of people on the streets when you get to the finish.”

“I told him what I thought I would do which would be dramatic and have little bit of a romance to it is…I think I’ll just go off into the crowd and not finish the race.”

Unfortunately, that time may be nearing for Calvert.

“I have been really fortunate, I’ve run a lot of other marathons,” said Calvert. “I’m diabetic, and I’d say almost two years ago I was doing the Honolulu marathon and ended up having a low sugar at about mile 24 and got very woozy and had issues.”

“Fortunately, a very dear friend of mine was running with me and got me to the [medical] tent, and he went ahead and finished, but I had to be taken off the course.”

Out of the around 90 marathons Calvert has run, it’s the only one he has never finished.

After that episode, Calvert says he was “very cognizant” of his sugar levels, making sure to have sugar with him just in case. Still, he says that he needs to “wrap his head and spirit around that he may not be able to finish one.”

“There’s not a lot of people in my age group that continue to run,” said Calvert. “I had a lot of friends that we were the same age and running all the time together, and they don’t run with me anymore.”

Calvert still runs daily, anywhere from three to five miles during the week and seven to eight on weekends.

He has no real goal about how long he intends to maintain his legacy status. Instead, his continuing to run is more of an opportunity to “check in.”

“It’s such an individual sport, and yes, it’s nice to be a part of that group, but for me I keep thinking, ‘How big of a deal could it be, ‘cause I can do it,’” said Calvert. “I look at it now, it’s kind of like checking in. ‘I did 26.2 miles today, I guess I’m okay.’”

Calvert’s marathon days may (or may not) be approaching the finish line. Then again, he’s still planning on running number 37.