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mark, with his best 3:02 in theBill Rodgers’ tailwind year of1982.

“I was pretty fit back then,not a broken-down old hacklike I am now,’’ he said.

“I’m the oldest and theslowest, which is not a goodsign. But if I get a transplant I’llbe right.’’

Neville Gardner, 69, had ahip replacement in May 2011,

THERE’S ONEAlmost 36 years ago, 10 young menwere among 1947 runners to completethe inaugural Big M MelbourneMarathon. The group is now aged from57 to 70 and suffering from a varietyof ailments, but all will be back on thestart line on October 13 to run their36th consecutive MelbourneMarathon. Chris Muirden reports

a couple of guys 10 years youn-ger.”

Ryan is not the only Legendto have overcome adversityover the years.

The oldest member, 70-year-old Pete Battrick, has a se-rious nerve-related backcomplaint that restricted him to6hr59min13sec time last year.

In the early years Battrickwas usually around the 3:30

tests. She knows what thisevent means to me.’’

One of his best mates, JohnDean, was a member of theLegends group until 2010 andit took a serious break of hisfibula in his leg just four weeksbefore the race to stop himrunning.

“He was devastated. I thinkall of us want to be the last onestanding, the problem is there’s

to make an exception for him.“The easiest thing is to say,

‘Just give it away’, but it wouldbe like saying, ‘Just give up onlife’. You have got to keepdoing things,’’ Ryan said.

“I see my GP next week, butmy cardiologist said, “Goodluck for the marathon” re-cently so I have his approval torun. My wife Christine is hap-py as long as I get the blood

PETER Ryan is 65and had open heartsurgery in May thisyear. The operationto mend an aneur-

ism that had swollen his aortato twice its normal size tooknearly seven hours.

His biggest fear, apart fromdying, was no longer being amember of the club he is proudto belong.

And we are not talkingabout his membership amongthe elite “I played one VFL/AFL game” group that camefrom his time as a rover atHawthorn in 1967.

Ryan belongs to a group ofMelbourne Marathon Spar-tans who are dubbed the Leg-ends because they havecompleted every race since itbegan in 1978.

There are 10 of them leftand they share a bond and a de-termination to continue turn-ing up on that one day inOctober and putting their age-ing, battered bodies through42.2km.

It is for that reason thatRyan was back walking justthree days after his operationand has alternated jogging andwalking 800m once givenmedical approval to start train-ing in August.

He is worried that he mightmiss the seven-hour marathontime limit when the gates intothe finish line at the MCGclose, but organisers are likely

Lisa Weightman

IT may have lost its nationaltitle status, but the MedibankMelbourne Marathon has lostnone if its standing this year.

An Australian record 7383runners have already enteredthe marathon and barringunseasonal weather onOctober 13, organisers expectboth the men’s and women’srace records to fall.

The women’s fieldincludes Australia’s topdistance runner LisaWeightman, who opted toforgo her spot at the Moscowworld titles last month toconcentrate on the local race.

The Preston runnerclocked 2:27.32 at the LondonOlympics, so the race recordof 2:32.30 and a $20,000bonus should be achievable.

Kenyan Eunice Kales willalso be after the bonus. Kalescame home strongly to winthis year’s Brighton (UK)Marathon in 2:28.50 and thepair are expected to adoptsimilar race plans.

The men’s field is also thebest credentialed in history.

Japan’s Yuki Kawauchi isa regular 2:08 runner and was17th at the world titles inMoscow, while the Africancontingent is led by 2012Xiamen Marathon winnerPeter Kamais, who onceclocked 59.53 in a halfmarathon to beat Ethiopianlegend Haile Gebrselassie.

Both should be wellcapable of breaking the2:11.04 set by Japhet Kipkoririn 2010.

Star Moonee Pondsrunner Liam Adams, whowon the Gold Coast halfmarathon in 63.28 last year,will make his marathondebut, while Newcastle’sScott Westcott, who wasthird last year in 2:16.00, willbe back.

NUMBERS RISETHE fun run boom shows nosigns of abating, withnumbers in this year’sMelbourne Marathon upsharply.

The half-marathon fieldlimit of 11,000 was reachednearly two months prior tothis year’s event — onOctober 13. Entries in the fullmarathon have continued tocome, with 7383 entered.

Last year’s Melbourne raceboasted 6230 finishers — arecord for an Australianmarathon.

So far 2236 women (30 percent of total entries) haveentered what was once apredominantly male event.