EVANSVILLE — Harold Carey didn't start running until he was in his 60s but he turned it into a 25-year career that never failed to inspire people.
Carey, 89, died Tuesday at St. Mary's Medical Center after collapsing during a training run last week.
Local Facebook and Web pages dedicated to running lit up with people commenting about the loss of Carey.
MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press Harold Carey, 87, braves the below freezing temperatures to do a few laps around the First Southern Baptist Church Christian Life Center parking lot in Evansville on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Carey who began running at age 64, ran his first half-marathon at age 75 and is now training for his first full marathon this April. "At first, I couldn't run a half-a-block but I just kept at it," said Carey. He hopes to finish the marathon in six hours flat.
PHOTO BY MOLLY BARTELS
MOLLY BARTELS / Courier & Press Harold Carey, 87, braves the below freezing temperatures to do a few laps around the First Southern Baptist Church Christian Life Center parking lot in Evansville on Tuesday, February 9, 2010. Carey who began running at age 64, ran his first half-marathon at age 75 and is now training for his first full marathon this April.
"Everybody has gone crazy with stories about how he inspired them," said Sally Kroeger, who knew him through her work organizing the annual Half Marathon of Evansville and its training program for the YMCA of Southwestern Indiana.
Carey retired from the United States Air Force after 25 years. He became a dedicated runner who was known to train in all kinds of weather and never gave up on his goals.
"He was stubborn, and I mean that in the most loving way," Kroeger said. "He just inspired so many people in the entire area."
Carey was an ever-present fixture at area races, said Graham Paxton, owner of the Swift Athletics running store.
"He just showed that age is something that is in the mind," he said.
A frequent winner in his age division at races, Carey was a four-time gold medal winner at the National Senior Olympics, winning his first 5K in the 50-and-over division of the Senior Olympics in 1999 at Orlando, Fla., when he was 75. He followed it up with victories in 2001 at Baton Rouge, La., 2003 at Norfolk, Va., and 2005 at Pittsburgh, Pa., and placed second in the 5K in the 80-and-over division at the 2007 Senior Olympics at Louisville, Ky.
He ran his first marathon at age 87 in the Southern Indiana Classic in 2010.
Jim Nolan, owner of Ultimate Fit running store, said Carey's marathon finish was an American record time for his age.
"Evansville and the area really lost a great guy. He was just an overall great person," Nolan said. "He had a pretty exceptional story. I was just amazed at how much he loved running. He was always giving people advice about it. He just loved the sport so much," Nolan said. "He was always talking about helping people."
He said Carey had a love for helping people, especially new runners.
"I talked to him two weeks ago. He was getting ready for a USA Track & Field masters meet," Nolan said. "He said there was a 90-year-old he had to look out for."
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