Steve Prefontaine, the late-American, 1970s middle-distance runner, once said that most people run a race to see who is the fastest, while he did it to see who had the most guts. It's a mentality that John Lane understands. Lane developed a passion for marathon running in his 40s; the former quantity surveyor completed his first one in Hong Kong in 1979, at the age of 42. Yet now, 112 marathons later, aged 73, he is still running. Although Lane is not out to cross the line in front, he believes in finishing what he has started. But the veteran runner said he has finally run his last marathon and will, instead, compete in a more sedate event - ultra-marathons. 'I used to do marathons in three to four hours and now I do them in five to six hours. That puts me under pressure because marathons have cut-off times, so if I don't make the cut-off time I could get disqualified,' Lane said. 'In ultra-marathons you have got a lot more time to finish and I can run at a much more leisurely pace with not so much pressure involved. That suits me fine these days.' Lane's worst nightmare took place near the end of the 1997 Tsing Ma Bridge Marathon, when he ran while carrying an injury, missed the final cut-off time and the organisers opened the road to traffic. However, he finished the marathon - despite having a queue of cars behind him. 'I'll always remember that one. They'd opened the road and there was all this traffic behind me, but I was determined to keep going. I wasn't going to start a marathon and not finish it,' he said. It all means that Lane's 30th appearance in last Sunday's China Coast Marathon, where he clocked a finishing time of five hours and 56.17 seconds, will be his last over the distance. Whatever he lacks in speed though, he more than makes up for in endurance. In 1996, Lane completed the 100-kilometre Trailwalker in 19 hours and 43 seconds, and the following day ran in the Macau Marathon, finishing in a time of four hours, 46 minutes and 55 seconds. Not bad going for a man of his age and he even runs ultra-marathons by himself. His favourite course is his annual run around Lantau. 'I go from Mui Wo across to Tung Chung, then right down the coast and back to Mui Wo. I usually do it once a year. It's my own personal run that I enjoy. It's nice to run 30 miles on your own feet rather than driving by car,' he said. 'I've slowed up so now it takes me nine or 10 hours to do, but I love it. I treat myself to a pint in Mui Wo when I finish.' Lane arrived in Hong Kong in 1977 from Maidstone, England, with his wife, Barbara, and his young family, and worked as a quantity surveyor on Sha Tin New Town. He then moved on to working on the North Lantau Expressway before heading to Taiwan to work on the Taiwan High Speed Rail, eventually staying for nearly 10years. Initially, Sha Tin New Town had only one high-rise building - Worldwide Gardens - but the area now incorporates the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Fo Tan, Tai Shui Hang, and Ma On Shan. The population has also grown to more than 630,000. Unfortunately the development of Sha Tin New Town turned out to be a lost opportunity for Lane. 'I could have bought a place for about HK$250,000 in those days. My one regret is that I didn't invest in one, but I was on two-year contracts and I had government housing, so I never thought about it then. I do now,' he said. Tragedy struck after he had just started his new job, too, when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. She later died and it was after this that Lane threw himself into running. 'I've always run in my life, but looking back once my wife died I took it up more seriously,' he said. 'I'd run the 10km from where I lived on Caldecott Road to Sha Tin, where I worked. Sometimes I'd run back home after work as well.' When others were starting to think about putting their feet up and getting in a few rounds of golf, Lane had bigger aspirations. His marathon career started in some fairly inauspicious surroundings when he competed in the Distance Runners of Hong Kong Club-organised Shek Kong Airfield Marathon, which comprised three laps of the perimeter of the airfield. Yet he has not looked back since. His most memorable marathon was being part of the 38,000 runners that competed in the 100th Boston Marathon, although he had a few other reasons to impress that day. 'I ran with about 5,000 women between the ages of 25-35 as they were classed in the same time bracket as me, so I had to run with them,' he said. 'I was 59 years old and there was a few of us old buggers running with these young ladies. We ran the whole Boston marathon with all these women. We had every encouragement to run on. ' Lane also recalled the 1984 Shanghai Marathon, but for very different reasons. '[It was] Shanghai before any modernisation. The city was grey and grim. Even the people were dowdy and grey. It was quite something to see.' In his heyday Lane would run up to 110km a week, but these days hiking and trail running keeps him in shape. Among other things, he has been chairman of the Distance Runners of Hong Kong Club and chairman of the Athletic Veterans of Hong Kong. To say running is his passion is putting it mildly. 'It's a bit addictive, I suppose. Once you work at a computer all day long it's nice to get out,' he said. 'I'd have run more than 112 marathons had I not been in Hong Kong so long as there's more opportunities in the UK. 'You could have run 100 marathons in about four years in the UK. It's taken me 20 years here, but that's OK. Some people play squash, some people go sailing. I go running.' Lane admitted that his joints are a bit worn after all his pounding on the roads but argued that it was possible to get arthritis without doing any exercise. In the past 12 months he has been shuttling between Hong Kong and England to see his three children and his grandchildren. He is also determined to get back working full-time again in Hong Kong, if possible, and has no plans to retire. 'I want to keep my mind going,' he said. 'The old legs aren't moving as quick as they used to these days, but I'll try to keep them going as well.' After all these years his family still make pleas for him to take things easier, but he is showing no signs of taking their advice - not that he ever did before. 'They say I should take it easy but they've always said that. You could drop dead running for a bus,' Lane said. 'I just like to see if I can still do it. I won't give it up - I'll just slow down.' Healthy addiction Number of marathons John Lane completed in 31 years after developing a passion for the sport: 112
