David Foskey / 74 / Malvern
Melbourne Marathons: x42 (Spartan Legend)
MM PB: 2:58.51 – 1986
1978 Time: 4:14:10
2019 Time: 5:42:30
“I’ve always liked running, never very good at it” admits David. When the first Melbourne Marathon was announced, he and his housemate, Bruce, decided it was a challenge they wanted to do, “like a mount Everest thing”. Between the two of them they knew one person who had run a marathon, they got some tips from him and thought they knew it all.
David was disappointed with his first race because of his 4 hour 14 minute finishing time, but mostly because Bruce (a stockier and heavier guy), had beaten him. The next year they ran again and once again he was beat, this time by a wider margin. This just fueled the fire within him to do better.
David’s greatest running achievement was the one and only Melbourne Marathon he completed in under 3 hours. It was the year he turned 40, he thought “I’m turning 40 I’ve got to do something. If I am going to break 3 hours then this is my last chance”. He ran it in 2 hours 58 minutes.
“I have done so many [Melbourne Marathon’s], it’s definitely a part of my life. It dominates it in some ways. In 42 years I have made sure that I haven’t been away or gone on holidays so I show up on race day”.
