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Grandma set for 38th Great Race

By Eleanor Bailey almanac Sports Editor ebailey@thealmanac.Net 6 min read
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Ruth Black of Peters Township started running in the late 1960s to keep healthy and stay strong. The fitness formula seems to be working.

For this Sunday, Sept. 30, Black will participate in her 38th Great Race. In 1980, at age 47, she competed in her first 10-kilometer run.

“The Great Race was an instant favorite,” she said of that first foray into competitive running.

“I loved jogging through the city streets, passing through the outskirts and into Oakland, then the excitement of cresting the last hill and seeing Pittsburgh spread out below, with one more mile to go before the end of the race,” she said describing the 6.2-mile course.

Now, at age 85, she dominates the distance even though her times have slowed “a little” since her first races. Black is a safe bet to take home a prize. In 37 previous runs, she has received 18 total awards for first, second and third places in her division.

“Not a bad batting average,” she said.

“The nice thing about getting older is that there are fewer runners in your age group, which means that when the race is over, I’ve often been lucky enough to come away with a winner’s plaque,” continued Black, who finished first in her age group in 2017. “I tell my friends, ‘All you have to do is keep running until there are only a few in your age group. You’ll get a plaque every time.'”

No matter how challenging, the Great Race has given Black something “wonderful” to look forward to every year. About eight weeks out, she starts training. She will run Monday through Saturday and chart her distances and where she ran. Come race day, she is ready.

“It isn’t always a breeze,” she said, noting that last year’s run was one of the most difficult because of the heat and humidity. “It was unbelievable,” she recalled. “People were passing out along the route. I’m a stubborn runner and under normal circumstances I don’t take a break even for water but last year I had to.

Life on the fly

At her age, Black doesn’t have to be so active, but she knows no other way to live. As a youth growing up in Chattanooga, Tenn., she played basketball and volleyball in high school.

Even her fingers were fast. With the ability to type 70 words per minute, she excelled at her secretarial skills that she worked at one time at the Bradford Business School.

“You sure can’t type that fast today because computers are different,” she said. “It’s good to learn them. My goodness, kids learn them in first grade. They excel and do well today that they leave us in the dust at our age.”

From a social standpoint, Black left all the girls her age in the dust when she fell in love with her husband. Bobby Black, 90, was the star quarterback and all-around handsome jock at Brentwood High School.

Black recalled one of her husband’s recent reunions at the South Hills Country Club. Orlando Jardini had organized the gathering and since only about 25 still-living classmates attended he asked them to talk about what they would have liked to do in high school.

“One of them had a crush on Bobby and she said that she wanted to but never did date him. In reply to her, Orlando said, “‘What girl didn’t want to date Bobby Black.'”

Through their employment with the airlines-she a stewardess for Delta and he in reservations for Capital, which merged with United-Ruth and Bobby met.

“It was easy to date in the airlines,” Black said. “You met so many people; celebrities, movie stars, people in government. My husband was a submariner and when he met an admiral, he was thrilled to death.

“One of the great ones for me was Frankie Lane,” Black continued. “I had a fan club for him in high school. That was some excitement,” she said.

As a married couple for 65 years, the pair shared much excitement. They reared two children, both Upper St. Clair High School graduates. Their son, Robert, is 59 and resides in Buffalo. A Penn State graduate, he works in sales. Their daughter, Leslie, 60, lives in Denver. A graduate of the University of Rochester, she is retired.

In May, the siblings threw a party at Atria’s in Peters Township, celebrating their parents’ wedding anniversary. They were married on Jan. 27, 1953.

Standing out in the crowd

Black is accustomed to crowds as the Great Race regularly attracts upwards of 16,500 runners for both the 10K and 5K events. She embraces every stride and every minute of the race.

“It’s so exciting,” she said. “I look forward to just seeing all the people and how many are out doing the race. People cheer you all along the way. Bands are playing. All the college fraternities are out there urging you on. It’s such a neat race that really puts Pittsburgh on the map.”

Putting running on the radar of others is Black’s life-long ambition. She, herself, started simply. She had worked at the European Health Spas and participated in aerobics “when it was new” then she transitioned to running.

“When you start out, you have to take it easy. Do some walking. Walk and run some. Make your pace faster. Jog some and then run,” she said. “Jogging is easier than running but running works your whole system. You want to keep your heart working well and exercise keeps you healthy.

“Besides,” she added, “it makes you feel like you have accomplished something, got something done. I’m proud that I have been able to keep all the activity going all my life. I’ve been very lucky.”

Blessed is more like it. Black concedes there is a spirituality to rising each morning and lace up her Adidas. She says that her advice to people in general is to be happy and pray.

“It might sound corny but I say my prayers every night. I pray that I wake up and have a good day. I don’t care what church you go to or if you do but you’ve got to believe in something higher. There is something mightier than you are. We have all been put here to do something.”

For Black, that something just might be to run and compete in as many Great Races as she can.

“When people asked me why I run, I say because it keeps me healthy and makes me feel good,” she said.

“I hope the Great Race continues for generations of runners who want to stay in shape and experience the thrill of running through a beautiful city with a wonderful bunch of people. There’s nothing like the moment Pittsburgh opens up before you as you go over the hill by Duquesne, and you can see the thousands of runners ahead of you, and, looking back, the thousands of runners behind you, and you think: I’m doing pretty well.”

At 85, Black is doing pretty well, indeed.

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