How would you like to be in your mid-eighties, you’ve run every single City to Surf and you have no plans of stopping soon? Well that’s how Lindsay McEachern, village resident of The Landings in Turramurra, Sydney, lives his life. Read all about it here in our section – My Extraordinary Life…
Lindsay says his goal is to complete 50 City to Surfs and then he might slow down: “People say to me: ‘You’re crazy – what about your legs and your hips?’ They don’t understand it – and I guess it’s almost incomprehensible. But there’s a message in there, ” he adds.
It seems running has been Lindsay’s passion over the years and it begs the question – where does he get the motivation to do so much demanding physical exercise?
The answer is simply that he’s doing it to improve his health: “There’s a history of heart attack in my family. When I was younger I did a lot of swimming and played a lot of rugby, but when I came out of all that in my early thirties, I knew I had to take up something else. So I took up running,” he says.
The side benefits are worth it
Lindsay says the health benefits of his running and training have always made it all worthwhile: “I enjoy good health and a great life so these are the side benefits of a sport like running – even physical exercise in general. That’s the hard truth.
“I think mind and body fitness does keep us alive a little bit longer,” he adds.
As well as running, Lindsay keeps up his swimming when it gets hotter: “I swim in the summer time because I live at The Landings in Turramurra in Sydney – and I live right alongside the swimming pool.”
“In about 20 paces I can be in the pool – it’s fantastic for those of us who live here,” he adds.
As well as the City to Surf’s, Lindsay ran as many as 10 major competitive marathons in his time. These marathons have been mostly in the Sydney area and are the standard length of at least 42 kilometres.
“You’ve either got to be very good at it or crazy,” he says. “There was a few of us in Sydney who used to compete at a few of the running events and we knew each other. When the City to Surf started, we all ran in the first one. There’s a group of us called The Legends – all of us have run every one of the City to Surfs.”
“I’m in my mid-eighties and I’m one of the oldest of The Legends,” Lindsay adds.
Coogee boy born and bred
Lindsay was born in Coogee, Sydney, and went to school at Sydney Boys High: “I went into a technical education and I was in the pastoral industry working for a wool broker for many years, but now I’m fully retired,” he says.
“I lived in the Eastern suburbs and I was part of the Coogee Surf Club and I played rugby for Randwick. But I had a high-powered job and I was ‘dead in the water’ I reckon,” Lindsay adds.
By ‘dead in the water,’ Lindsay is referring to the fact he felt like he was a heart attack waiting to happen.
“I really became interested in running because of the health benefits. It may have been a fluke but I feel these years I’m enjoying now are my pay-off years – and I hope it will continue.
“I’m so blessed for what I have – to have the gift of physical capacity and I’m mentally active as well. I am very, very lucky.”
