Bill Murray is the biggest loser I know. But I didn’t realize this until after he’d returned home to his real estate business in Alabama following Lahti, where he won the M55 decathlon in an American record. Bill doesn’t boast about his weight loss. In fact, he fessed up details (and sent me the photo below) only after I sweet-talked him. He had sent me a link to a local newspaper story because it mentioned me (and got the story wrong). But Bill’s yarn is the real deal — and one that could inspire anyone to take up track after time on the potato-chip couch. The bottom line: Bill lost close to 80 pounds in his late 40s — equivalent to five 16-pound shots.

  

Bill and youngest son Will (left) about 2001; Bill hurdling in Lahti in August 2009.

Bill says he weighed around 175-180 during high school and college.  In high school, he ran cross country (“always the No. 6 or 7 guy”) and played the forward position in soccer. His prep bests were 14-0 in the vault, 6-6 3/4 in the high jump, 21-10 in the long jump, about 42-6 in the triple jump, 51.10 in the 400, 15.0 in the 120-yard high hurdles, 21.0 in the 180-yard low hurdles, 45-11 in the shot and “around 132” in the discus.

So here I am at 47 years old 259 pounds and I came back to B’ham after the indoor nationals when I went with Phil (Mulkey) Jr. to Boston. I started reading “The T- Factor Diet” by Martin Katahn, Ph.D. He said I could lose weight without cutting or counting calories. I thought it was the diet for me. I still use his principles today. 

Diet alone was not the solution, I knew I had to start on an exercise program. I thought I would run the weight off. In Boston, I determined that I could be competitive with those guys (Bryan Johnson, John Dyer, Michael Janusey, Bob Doran, Jim Russ, Jeff Watry, Steve Winkle, Phil Mulkey Jr., Richard Watson) if I could lose 70 pounds. That became my short-term goal. The weight came flying off as I increased my mileage. 

I went from not being able to run to the corner of my block to six miles a day, six days a week on the roads around my house. In the summer I would set the clock for 3:30 a.m., to beat the Alabama heat and humidity, run six miles, shower and go back to bed for a couple of hours before going to work. I lost the weight in about seven months, but I also lost muscle mass. I spent the next six months in a gym working with weights on my upper body to regain my strength. I still had not set foot on a track at this point. 

I called Coach Phil Mulkey who had recently moved back to Birmingham and was my coach from fourth grade through ninth grade and said “I need help.” In typical Mulkey vernacular, his response was “You sure do.”

He had once told me in about sixth grade that since I wasn’t very fast and since I couldn’t jump very far or very high that I should consider the decathlon and that maybe just maybe, I could wear them, the competition, out over 10 events. So we began to work out. 

My first T&F meet was an indoor meet that Emil Pawlick had in Jackson, Mississippi. I then competed in the Indoor Nationals in Boston 2003 and placed sixth in the pentathlon at age 49. I went to Charlotte for the decathlon that summer and placed third. I had my sights set on Sindelfingen for the pentathlon in 2004 when I turned 50. 

Based on Internet searches, I thought I knew who my competition was going to be and what I would need to score in order to win in Germany. So Coach Mulkey and I prepared for the next nine months. Over the next five years I continued to run, but my training schedule has evolved. 

I burned out by the end of my 53rd year and took some time off while dealing with my father’s open-heart surgery. The time off appears to have been what I needed. I started training again, with renewed energy and a totally new training program, for my upcoming new age group change. 

Other than typical training injuries that we all have, I have been blessed to remain relatively healthy. 

My diet gets so strict when preparing for a major competition that I tend to take the diet restrictions off and indulge as my reward after the completion of the event and the season has concluded. I have put on a few pounds since Finland, but it’s amazing how much better a potato tastes with butter and a lean steak is a big change from skinless chicken. I still won’t venture into fried foods and they are tough to stay away from in the South. 

My diet is basically counting fat grams. I eat tons of carbs and protein, salads, fruits, vegetables, the wine group is nice and I shy away from processed foods, fast foods, dairy and meats with high fat. 

I am not sure I am the one to dole out advice on lifestyles choices. I am much better suited giving advice on field events or pinot noirs. What works for me may not work for someone else. Everyone needs to find what works for them. I do know that sittin on your butt with a remote won’t work, ya’ll.

Here’s the story that first mentioned Bill’s weight loss: 

Master of the Decathlon
Published September 1, 2009 

Seven years ago, Mountain Brook’s Bill Murray was an overweight middle aged man, whose athletic career was nothing more than a fading high school memory.

At one time, Murray — who now works in commercial real estate — had been a track and field star. He first began running at the old Birmingham University School before transferring to The Baylor School in Chattanooga. At Baylor, he was the pole vault and decathlon champion for the state of Tennessee.

“Then I took about a 30-year layoff,” Murray recalled. “And put on about 70 pounds in the process.”

Murray was 48 years old and weighed about 260 pounds when he got a call from a friend, Phil Mulkey, who invited him to Boston to view the Indoor Masters Pentathlon, an event for senior athletes.

“I didn’t really want to go, but Phil said he’d pay for the trip,” said Murray. “So I knew me making this trip meant a lot to him.”

While Murray may have gone to Boston reluctantly, he came home inspired. “My juices were going,” he said.

They sure were. Murray embarked upon a rigorous diet and exercise program in which he lost 70 pounds in only six months. “I bought a book called the The T-Factor Diet,” he said. “It said you could eat as much as you wanted as long as you ate the right things. I counted fat grams.”

Murray also undertook running with the same determination. “When I started, I literally couldn’t run to the end of the block,” he recalled. “Before long, I was running six miles a day, six days a week.

But suddenly, as he lost weight, Murray also noticed he was losing muscle mass as well.

“So I spent six months in the gym building up my upper body strength,” he said.

By 2003, Murray was ready to compete. He excelled in Masters events all over the world, but his greatest victory came last July, when, at 55, Murray won the Masters World Outdoor Decathlon in Lahti, Finland in the 55-59 age bracket.

The Masters version of the decathlon is the same as the standard version: The first day is comprised of the 100-meter run, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump and the 400-meter run; the second day consists of the 100- meter hurdle, the discus, the pole vault, the javelin throw and the 1500-meter run. Murray took first place with a point total of 8,087.

Murray’s victory wasn’t without drama. During the first event of the second day – the 100-meter hurdles – he felt his back go out. Murray had sustained a pinched nerve.

The injury might have forced Murray out of the competition if not for the efforts of Ken Stone, a track and field enthusiast who writes a blog for Masterstrack.com.

“Ken went through the Finnish yellow pages and made 10 or 11 phone calls until he found a chiropractor that would come out to the track and work on me between the events,” said Murray. “That kept me limber so I could continue to compete. If not for Ken’s efforts I wouldn’t have made it.”

While Murray’s accomplishment took place at an age when many of his peers are riding around in golf carts, in the world of Masters Track and Field, he is strictly a youngster.

“In Finland there were three 95-year-olds competing,” he said. “There was one runner who was 101.”

Murray may have gotten an omen he might do well in the Masters Decathlon earlier this year in Kenosha, Wisconsin, when he won the Indoor National Heptathlon – which is seven events over two days – in March. He set a world record, totaling 6,122 points.

Two weeks later, he won the Masters Indoor Pentathlon in Landover, Maryland, totaling 4,384 points, another world record.

Murray is modest about his achievements, but admits that those who hear his story are inspired by it.

“I’ve got one speed. I do everything full blast,” he said. “I’ve been working out 25 hours a week for years.”

And when Murray needs a little coaching, he goes back to his early roots. Legendary track coach Phil Mulkey Sr. – who trained Murray at BUS – still works with his long-time pupil. Not coincidentally, the elder Mulkey is the father of Murray’s friend Phil who got him interested in Masters Track. 

Murray in turn shares his experience and wisdom with the Mountain Brook High School track team, working as an assistant to Spartan coach Greg Echols.

It’s a lot of fun working with the kids,” said Murray. “If I can do what I did, they can achieve whatever they want.”

And since Murray seems to have no inclination to rest on his laurels, don’t be surprised to see him running with the 95-year-olds one day.

For the record, I didn’t use Finnish yellow pages to find Bill his chiropractor/masseuse. I just made several trips to the Information Booth at the Technical Info Center hall near the stadium, where an incredibly helpful Finnish volunteer made a series of calls after going online with her laptop. 

Deca rivals would have suffered hernias with a Bill Murray circa 2000.

August 5 dawned bright in Lahti, Finland, tinged with anticipation. The WMA General Assembly was meeting on a rest day at the World Masters Athletics Championships to elect a new president and other officers. Stan Perkins, running against Ohio’s Rex Harvey, won the presidency by one vote, and smiled as he shook hands with Rex. But amid the celebration was an unseen darkness: Stan’s heart was hurting. Thousands of miles away — back home in Australia — his sister’s funeral was being held. I learned of this tragic subtext as I left Lahti, but haven’t shared details until now. I wrote Stan to confirm the story, and he replied in late August. I still don’t know his sister’s name. Haven’t seen an online obituary either. A month after the moment, here’s all I know.

Rex Harvey congratulates a secretly sad Stan Perkins at General Assembly.

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