Marathon Man - Ben Beach

I've discussed what a great time of year this is for sports fans.  And one of the premier events is the Boston Marathon which celebrated its 120th running on this past Monday. Well, Ben Beach, a great friend of this blog, just finished his 49th consecutive Boston Marathon in 5 hours and 31 minutes, far below the 6 hour cutoff time that the Marathon recently imposed for those runners who have run 25 or more consecutive years. So Ben has qualified for 2017 and his 50th in a row - quite an achievement, especially considering the fact that dystonia severely restricts the miles he can put in for training. Here is a nice article on Ben that ran before the 2015 marathon discussing his record-breaking exploits. A veritable youngster in his mid-60s, Ben is closing in on the legendary Johnny Kelley's feat of finishing 58 Boston Marathons. What's even more incredible is that this is not the only streak of this length that Ben has going - he has a similar run of attendance at Harvard-Yale football games. What dedication!