Mary Harada in 2006 .

Mary Harada, the mouse that roars, is featured in today’s Boston Globe as well its online site. Under the headline “A lifetime of running,” writer John Vellante notes her recent induction into the USATF Masters Hall of Fame and quotes Mary (a frequent visitor here): “I’m really not sure how one is supposed to feel at 74. I think it all depends on attitude and physical condition. I’m fortunate to be physically healthy, and I think I’m still in my right mind. A Canadian runner, Earl Fee, who’s 80, once told me that the trick is as you get older to age more slowly than your competitors.” Cathy Utzschneider, Mary’s coach, says: “She respects that process and is careful to adjust her training when
she feels her body is talking to her. She is an inspiration to all
women athletes.”

Here’s the story, in case the link goes down:

A lifetime of running

By John Vellante | December 27, 2009

Name a distance, and chances are Mary Harada has run the event. And not only run it but beaten the field, too.

Whether it be the 400 meters, the 800, the 1,500, 3,000, or 5,000 . . . or the 5K, 6K, 8K, or 10K on a cross-country course, the pride of West Newbury has likely clocked a national or a world record at one time or another.

Her reward for her records, and four decades of running, is election into the United States Track & Field Masters Hall of Fame. No official date has been set for her induction, but Harada believes it could be at the National Masters Track & Field Championships next July in Sacramento.

The 74-year-old Harada still runs competitively and is considered the one to beat in her age division nearly every time she toes the line.

This past summer, Harada won the 800 and 1,500 meters in both the Massachusetts Senior Games in Springfield and the Ocean State Senior Games in Providence. Then she was off to Finland for the World Masters Athletic Games, where she finished fourth in the 1,500 and 5,000 meters. In October, at the World Masters Games in Australia, she won the 5,000, placed second in the 1,500, and was third in the 800. In the USATF Masters Championships in Maryland, she won the mile and 3,000 meters and was second in the 800.

That’s how it’s been for Harada for more than 40 years, or since she began running, she says, “for some exercise.”

“If anyone asked me back then if I’d be doing this 40 years from now, I would have thought them out of their mind,” said Harada. “But it’s become a way of life for me. I got into road races initially, then track, and decided I liked doing that better. I am a very competitive person and it’s the competition I love the most, competing against others my own age and against myself as well.”

In March, she’ll travel to British Columbia for the World Masters.

A retired professor of history and government at Northern Essex Community College, Harada called her selection to the hall “very pleasing, but not the thing you spend a lot of time thinking about whether you’ll get in or not.” Nonetheless, she said, “it’s nice to be recognized first by a committee and then by your peers for what you’ve managed to accomplish over the years.”

While most people are slowing down at 74, that’s not the case with Harada. To her, 74 is just a number.

“I’m really not sure how one is supposed to feel at 74,” she said. “I think it all depends on attitude and physical condition. I’m fortunate to be physically healthy, and I think I’m still in my right mind. A Canadian runner, Earl Fee, who’s 80, once told me that the trick is as you get older to age more slowly than your competitors.”

Genes are certainly on Harada’s side. Her mother lived to be 90 and her father 102. One aunt reached 100 and two others a bit longer.

Harada runs four times a week, sometimes 6 miles, other times 8. She’s a regular at Fitness Factory in Newburyport, where she’ll ride the bike and lift weights.

“One reason she has been so successful is that she trains hard yet understands the aging process,” said Cathy Utzschneider, Harada’s coach of four years with the Liberty AC.

“She respects that process and is careful to adjust her training when she feels her body is talking to her. She is an inspiration to all women athletes.”

When Harada travels overseas, it’s not just to compete, but to take in the cultural aspects as well. Having a PhD in European history, she is in awe at the churches she has seen and the opera houses she has visited. Her favorite? The opera house in Sydney, which she calls “magnificent.” Of couse, she adds, she also loves the wine and cuisine.

She will be joined at the induction ceremony by four-time Boston Marathon champion Bill Rodgers, now 62 and residing in Boxborough. “I’ve always been an admirer of Bill Rodgers and it’s nice to be included with him,” she said.

Harada serves as president of the Liberty AC, the oldest all-women’s running club in the country, and members are brimming with joy at her selection.

“It’s a real honor for her and for the club,” said Carrie Parsi of Gloucester, a member since 1978 who won her age division (70-74) in last spring’s Boston Marathon. “We are all so proud of her. Her selection is well deserved.”

Most, if not all, of Harada’s records have been broken over the years, but if she stays healthy, chances are pretty good she’ll be reclaiming them starting in June. That’s when she turns 75 and begins to compete in the 75-79 age division.