Lee Cook Interview After Winning Age Group at 2026 Boston Marathon

Greenville Track Club member Lee Cook ran the 2026 Boston Marathon, placing first in his 80+ age group with a time of 4:08:02. Lee has also run the 2023 and 2024 Boston Marathons, winning the 75-79 age group in 2023, as well as the 2025 Chicago Marathon, also winning the 80+ age group. The following interview was conducted by GTC Board member Bill Blask.

You've run both Boston and Chicago marathons. What are the differences?
Lee: Chicago was well-organized, the spectators were great (numerous and loud), and being able to walk from the hotel to the start and finish lines was a bonus. But I never felt the good vibes that Boston provides. Boston is like a huge street party Friday through Sunday followed by the marathon on Monday. The race is on the third Monday in April, which is Patriot's Day, a state holiday in Massachusetts. The spectators are fantastic and their energy definitely gives the runners a boost. The one negative issue is that Boston is usually near the same weekend as the United Community Reedy River Run 10K in Greenville, so I miss running in one of my favorite local races.

The two courses are also totally different because Chicago is a loop course whereas Boston is a point-to-point course. In addition, Chicago is basically flat, while Boston is a more technical course with a net downhill of about 450 feet from start to finish. But Boston has many rolling hills throughout including the four Newton hills between miles 17 to 21, culminating with the famous Heartbreak Hill at mile 21. All the hills throughout the course account for about 900 feet in elevation gain. The Newton hills are not real steep, but they are long measuring from 0.4 to 0.6 miles in length. And because Chicago is a loop course, it has a total of 36 90-degree turns while Boston has only four 90-degree turns. Another big difference was the number of runners at the two races. Chicago had 54,000+ finishers while Boston had 29,000+ finishers. Getting to the starting line was totally different for me. At Chicago, my hotel was within walking distance to the start line. In Boston, runners get to ride a yellow school bus from near the finish line to the start line in Hopkinton, a little more than one-hour trip. The bus drops us off at, where else, a school yard. That school is 0.7 miles from the start line, so all the runners get to enjoy a long walk down a narrow street to the start of the race.

Was the training any different?
Lee: I had a good training buildup for the Chicago Marathon which was October 2025 and felt I could have done better than the 4:12:49 finish. I was aiming for something closer to four hours. I think the large crowd of runners, plus all the turns, may have played a role. In contrast, for Boston, I was dealing with hip flexor issues since the beginning of the year and did very little running from January through March although I did spend a lot of time on the stationary bike at the gym which helped keep my cardio somewhat in shape.

My long runs prior to Boston this year were 10, 12, and 15 miles in the two weeks prior to the race. The 15-miler was six days prior to the race. I was ramping up my mileage while others were tapering. All in all, I was pleased with my time of 4:08:02 since I would have been okay with anything under 4:20. I have no explanation for how I ran Boston's hilly course faster than Chicago's flat course, especially with the lack of training for Boston.

Is there anything that you wanted to do differently in running this year's Boston race compared to previous years? Lee: Here’s the thing. At my first Boston, all I knew about the course was what I had read about it. I had no plan whatsoever. I thought, I'm just going to start running and play it by ear; whatever happens, happens. What you usually read about, and hear the most about, are the famous hills. But a week before that first Boston I spoke with someone who had run Boston years earlier, and he said those hills aren't that bad. So, I said OK he should know, because he's been there, done that. I found the hills that I run in my neighborhood on training runs are more difficult than the hills at Boston. The difference is that those hills in Boston are so long. Those four Newton Hills measures from .4 miles to .6 miles in length. And the famous Heartbreak Hill is one of the .6 hills!

And that first Boston turned out much better than I expected. But this last one was a different animal because of my lack of training due to a hip injury I’ve been dealing with. I spoke with Jack Fultz, one of the Bright Forum members, the day before the race. [See
last section: Bright Forum] He was the 1976 Boston winner, and he's been a running coach for more than 30 years. He tried to convince me to do the run-walk protocol right from the get-go. He's a big proponent of the run-walk method that was made
famous by Jeff Galloway many years ago.

Jeff was a member of our Bright Forum group for less than a year but has passed recently. So, some of my cohorts in the Bright Forum had already decided that in honor of Jeff, they were going to do the run-walk thing at this year's Boston. I was almost convinced, and then Jack Fultz got on my case again the day before the race about doing the run-walk.

Since I had not practiced the run-walk method, I decided to run the first half of the race and switch to the run-walk approach for the second half. So, at Mile 14, I started to use the run-walk method, or “Jeffing” as it is commonly known. I had not practiced the run/walk in training, so I used the hydration stations for my walking phase. Boston has water stations at every mile starting at Mile 2 so that made it easy. But I'm not sure how much of a difference it made on the outcome of the race.

Lee (2nd from left) was honored with a few other GTC members who ran 2026 Boston Marathon.

When you run marathons, where do you look to pick up time to improve your finish?
Lee: You know, that's a good question because I have a big problem with "bonking," which means hitting The Wall. It's always been very consistent at around the 20-mile mark. For this race, I intentionally ran the first half of Boston just slightly under 9 minutes per mile, but then in the second half I was in the 9:30s to 9:40s mainly due to the run/walk method. Overall, my pace was 9:28 while the only mile split that was over 10 minutes was mile 21, which just happened to be Heartbreak Hill. I would love to be able to run a negative split, which means running the 2nd half of the race faster than the 1st half. But I've never been able to do that and the course layout at Boston makes it especially difficult. In fact, at this year's Boston, I ran a 10-minute positive split, which means I ran 10 minutes longer in the 2nd half than I did in the 1st half.

​ Again, this last Boston was a little different because in this race, I did that run-walk thing in the 2nd half. I expected it to be slower and, of course, it was. At the half marathon point, I was exactly one hour and 59 minutes. If I could have kept that up for the 2nd half of the race, I would have been just under 4 hours, but that didn't happen. In the Chicago Marathon, I ran the entire distance without walking. And when I ran my first Boston in 2023, I also kept running the entire race. There were a few walk breaks at the water stops because I've never learned how to drink properly from those little paper cups! 

A marathon’s well-known “hitting The Wall” toward the end of the race brings up the issue of nutrition, or "fueling," for
longer runs.
Lee: One of the things I'm still trying to figure out how to do well is fueling. I think fueling is the key to managing our energy in the
later stages of the race. I think that's why I run out of gas at the end of races. Your mind kind of wanders in the late stages when you're tired and you're just not thinking clearly, perhaps because of issues related to fueling. In Chicago, for example, I had a plan
to take in a certain amount of energy gels, and when I crossed the finish line, I still had an unused gel in my pocket. I just simply
forgot to take it.

What is the recent research on fueling during a race?
Lee: It used to be recommended that a runner take 30 to 60 grams of energy products per hour, and now they've up to 60 to
90 grams per hour, because they've done enough testing now, especially with elite athletes, that they find those amounts
helpful. In fact, the runner who just set the marathon record, Sabastian Sawe, has been said to take about 110 grams of carbs
per hour. But he had trained that way. Of course, all these elite athletes have sponsors like Nike and Maurten, the sport fueling
company. They throw a lot of money at running tests and trials. Sawe had trained using large amounts of carbs, and so he may
up that ante even again, because the latest now is 60 to 90 grams per hour. If I did that for a 4-hour marathon, that would be 12 gels for me to consume. You'd have to carry those with you.

You had a scare at this year's Boston finish. Might it have been related to fueling?
Lee: I fell just before the finish line at Boston! I can only blame myself because at the end of those 26 miles, Boston has a long,
straight street, Boylston, that leads to the finish. At that point I was out of gas, running on fumes. I was looking up at the finish line at a huge arch marking the end of the race. So, I was looking up at the finish line instead of paying attention to my, now, lousy
 unning form. Suddenly, I just flopped down onto the pavement before the finish! I got up and finished but I was wearing a special
"souvenir" from Boston on my forehead.

Regarding that hip flexor injury, how did you deal with that in preparing for this year's Boston?
Lee: I was dealing with hip flexor issues since the beginning of the year, so my training included a lot of cycling time at the gym as well as my running miles. For cycling during the months of January through March, I logged 407 miles for those three months. For running, I had a total of 108 miles, so my cycling was four times more miles than my running miles which helped offset the lost running time.

Did you you use a certain protocol in terms of cycling?
Lee: All those cycling episodes were anywhere from 12 to 18 miles. I always set the bike on a medium resistance. My goal would be to keep the pace under 4 minutes per mile. So that cycling pace was always my goal which allowed me to work up a sweat. For my gym workouts, I feel if I'm not sweating, I'm not working hard enough.

You also worked on your overall physical condition?
Lee: Exactly. That's another one of the things that I consider. I never just go to the gym, ride the bike and then go home. I always do some cross-training and work on my core a lot. I do a lot of squats, push-ups, pull-ups, bridges, planks, step-ups, etc. I do a lot of other stuff besides just riding the bike.

What kind of a time frame are you talking about for your workouts?
Lee: On the bike, it's like 45 minutes to an hour normally, depending on the mileage. After that, I probably spend about 30 minutes doing those other things. I don't really have a set pattern. Typically, if I'm healthy, I run 3 days a week, go to the
gym 3 days a week, and I rest one day a week. That's just my normal routine. 

​To me, that's a very healthy routine, providing your body agrees. And I think you've developed signs or measures of readiness over the years, so that you're protecting yourself while exercising.
Lee: That's kind of the way I look at it.

On the topic of training for races, when we first talked some time ago, you mentioned that when you warm up you have a
mental list of questions for yourself. It's almost like you're reassessing yourself at the beginning and setting the level,
the bar for that workout. Is that still happening?
Lee: It is. I strongly believe in doing some warm-up exercises before I start running. I always try to do some dynamic stretching
and warm up a little bit before I go for any run, regardless of what the run is all about. I do a warm-up routine whether I’m heading out the driveway or if I'm at the track. At the track, I'll typically do a mile warm up, just an easy trot around the track. But I also do
t he leg swings and active stretches even before I do the warm-up.

What might be the difference between finishing a marathon and finishing other distances?
Lee:: It's hard to explain but finishing a marathon gives a feeling of accomplishment that I don't get from other races. Besides the
arduous physical training leading up to the marathon, the fueling and hydration strategy during the race is very different than other
races. For example, I consumed seven gels and numerous cups of Gatorade and water at Boston while I usually only have one gel
and one water during a half-marathon. Recovery time after the marathon is much longer than other race distances although I did
run the Spinx half marathon 13 days after running Chicago last year. There is so much more effort involved in training the mind
and body to run 26.2 miles that when you cross the finish line, you can say, "There, I did it."

What is in the running future for you?
Lee: Since I ran my first marathon at age 77, I feel like a child with a new toy. Running marathons is a new challenge for me and I accept the fact that I'm older which makes it an even greater challenge. There are so many pieces to the marathon puzzle that need  to be sorted out such as training runs, pacing, fueling, cross-training, etc. I'm still trying to figure this stuff out!
​
The biggest issue for me now is fueling strategy. I think proper fueling during a marathon can be the difference between success
or failure. Bottom line: Will I run Boston again next year? I have until September to decide but the answer is probably yes. I've
already missed the sign-up for Chicago so I will not be running there this year.

The Bright Forum

[Amby Burfoot invited Lee to join the Bright Forum, a small group of elite 75+ runners who keep in touch through emails. The
founder of the group – he is in the photo below taken in 2024 showing a few of its illustrious members – is Frank Bright.]

Lee: Amby sent me a personal message in 2022, inviting me to join this group of 75+ runners who have either run Boston or qualified for Boston. At that time, I had not run Boston, but I had just qualified at the 2022 Myrtle Beach Marathon (3:48) and was
planning to apply for Boston 2023. I knew who Amby was, but he didn't know me from anywhere. After pondering his message for
a few days, I accepted the invitation. I've been a member of that group for about 4 years now. And these are all 75 plus years old guys, a lot of whom are now in their 80’s like me. We're not on Facebook. It's a Google group forum so all of our discussions are by email. When I joined the Bright Forum there were about 60 of us but now the group is up to 100 members. There were more than a dozen guys in the group who ran Boston a few weeks ago. The group is very inspiring. They have aches and pains like all of us, and listening to their stories is very uplifting.

There are at least four medical doctors in the group and others range from two former Harvard professors to a retired Navy Admiral. But they're all runners and they will talk about how inspiring it is to be a member of this group.

GTC's Lee Cook on far right of this photo of the Bright Forum.

I imagine you all have a lot to talk about.
Lee: It's not just about running marathons. Many of the topics are about other distance races the guys have run from 5K to half
marathon including the good, bad, and ugly outcomes. A lot of the discussions are about injuries or illness. Right away, the
doctors in the group will chime in and say, well, here's my experience with your issue. One of our guys from Indianapolis
has been dealing with Parkinson's disease for a long time –20 years – and is still running. In fact, he ran the Boston marathon a
few weeks ago. I saw him at the Expo the day before the race. The range of topics that these guys want to discuss is amazing.