Dave Patrick still rises most mornings and goes for a run, often a 3- to 5-mile jaunt through Rock Creek Park near his home in Bethesda, Md.
Sometimes someone will pass him, and Patrick will want to keep up, the youthful competitor in him still bubbling to the surface. But Patrick has to remind himself that he is 72 now, nearly a half-century removed from his days as one of the top distance runners in the country.
Instead of running sub 4-minute miles, Patrick settles for times between 8 and 9 minutes and feeling pain-free once he is done.
