document: Mr. Kelley is in training for the Boston Marathon -- his 60th Boston Marathon . And even at the age of 83 , he probably will finish ahead of a large number of the 13,000 runners expected to compete -- officially or unofficially -- on April 15 . Bill Rodgers , a four-time Boston Marathon winner who plans to run again this year , marvels at Mr. Kelley : `` It 's incomprehensible that a man his age is doing what he 's doing . I 'm struggling at the age of 43 ... . This is n't golf . '' Even the thought of running a course of 26 miles and 385 yards leaves some of Mr. Kelley 's rivals of yesteryear gasping . `` Aghast is more like it , '' says Leslie Pawson , 86 , a three-time Boston champion who ran against Mr. Kelley half a century ago . `` My doctor says : ` No running , whatsoever . ' I ca n't even remember when I ran my last marathon . '' John Adelbert Kelley is a throwback to a time when marathoners did it for glory and cab fare . A two-time winner in Boston -LRB- 1935 and 1945 -RRB- and runner-up seven times , Mr. Kelley is to be the oldest competitor in the race this year -- as he has been for 15 years . Mr. Kelley is such an institution that Hopkinton , Mass. , where the race begins , has made him an honorary citizen . -LRB- `` That means I do n't have to pay taxes there , '' he jokes . -RRB- Two state troopers will run alongside the 5-foot-6 , 130-pound Mr. Kelley into Boston so he wo n't be trampled by `` groupies , '' as he calls them , clamoring to shake his hand . Last year , five Japanese runners were waved away by the bodyguards , as they sidled up to the old celebrity during the race . Recalls Suni Tomomitsu , one of the runners : `` At first we thought , ` Oh , wow , he 's like Mafia man . ' Then we said , ` Oh no , this is nice Johnny Kelley . ' In Japan , he is awesome . '' Though he is n't the oldest person ever to enter the Boston Marathon , Mr. Kelley is the oldest to run it . Peter Foley , who was born in 1859 , was a regular until he was well into his 80s . But he walked the course . Starting at dawn -LRB- six hours before the official noon start -RRB- , Mr. Foley would eventually saunter across the finish line in the moonlight . Of course , Mr. Kelley -- not to be confused with the other John Kelley , who won the Boston Marathon in 1957 -- is n't the runner he was in 1935 when he won the race , in 2 hours , 32 minutes , 7 seconds . His best time ever was in 1945 : 2 hours , 30 minutes , 40 seconds . Last year he finished in 5 hours , 5 minutes . He hopes to do better in 1991 . `` That 's not a prediction , just a goal , '' he says . When John Kelley first toed the line in 1928 , George Bush was n't yet in kindergarten , Joe DiMaggio was an unknown and Nike was the winged goddess of victory , not a running shoe . In those days , Mr. Kelley recalls , he ran in black leather high-jumping shoes that he cut open at the toes with a razor blade . `` I would have loved to run with the worst pair of sneakers on the market today , '' he says . Back then , the sport did n't have much of a following . Today , of course , the Boston Marathon is a big deal , covered by TV from start to finish and offering $ 402,000 altogether in prize money . `` The winners get a medal and $ 55,000 , '' says Mr. Kelley . `` I got a medal and beef stew . God bless them , '' he adds . `` They deserve it . '' The rosy-cheeked , supple Mr. Kelley is a medical wonder . Each year , he visits the Cooper Clinic at the Aerobics Center in Dallas for a battery of endurance tests . `` Physiologically , whatever that means , I got all A 's , '' Mr. Kelley reports of his checkup four months ago . `` What that means , '' explains Kenneth Cooper , the physician who wrote `` Aerobics '' and several sequels and is now at work on a book on elderly athletes , `` is that Johnny has the body of a man 23 years younger . He 's going to be one of the stars of my book . '' Mr. Kelley 's resting pulse rate -- 60 beats a minute -- is well below the average person 's 72 beats . -LRB- That 's good . -RRB- On the stress test the clinic gives , Mr. Kelley holds the endurance record for his age group . A mechanic for Boston Edison Co. before he retired in 1972 , Mr. Kelley started running in the evenings after work more than six decades ago . His only purpose was to relax and have some fun . `` All day long , I did what my boss told me to do , '' he recalls . `` But when I ran at night , I felt free . I ran till I was exhausted . '' In 1928 , when he was 21 , he entered his first Boston Marathon but did n't finish . He dropped out three-quarters of the way through the race . Then , in 1933 , he finished 37th in a field of about 200 runners . In all the years since , he has missed the race just once , in 1967 . -LRB- He has competed , all told , in 112 marathons , including the 1936 and 1948 Olympics . Mr. Kelley well knows the jagged course from Hopkinton to downtown Boston : The first challenge comes five miles into the race , where a set of little hills can get a psyched runner to waste energy charging up the slopes . A mile and a half later , there 's new reason to beware : The smells of Cavanaugh 's Bakery can set off hunger pangs . An Exxon station in Wellesley marks the halfway point . A steep descent into Newton Lower Falls can jar a tired runner 's bones . Then , at the end of a long column of oak and maple trees , is Heartbreak Hill , his nemesis . It cost him at least two victories , he says . And finally there 's the Haunted Mile , a stretch where many runners have collapsed . Boston 's skyline , 2 1/2 miles in the distance , can seem so far away . Though still going strong , Mr. Kelley acknowledges the marathon gets tougher each year . To compensate , he trains harder . He used to start preparing in earnest at the end of January . `` In recent years , I 've been in training 12 months a year , '' he says , though the serious stuff -- a daily one-hour run , sprints on the track and long , 2 1/2 - hour runs every other week -- begins in December . -LRB- He does n't count the miles he puts in , as many long-distance runners obsessively do , but he says he would n't object to an estimate of about 50 miles a week . -RRB- Mr. Kelley always trains at 5 a.m. , and alone : `` It 's a quiet time , no traffic ; the air is fresh and sweet . '' His routes vary . In January , he prefers the frozen sands of the beach . With the approach of spring , he takes to the alder and scrub-pine hills and bluffs where the sun can be seen rising over Cape Cod Bay . After his morning run , he spends a couple of hours painting -LRB- still lifes and Cape Cod scenes -RRB- , a hobby he took up about 25 years ago . Unlike many runners , Mr. Kelley does n't bother with stretching exercises before he runs in the morning . `` This is my warm up : I empty the dishwasher , I set up the coffeepot , but I do n't plug it in . I set up the breakfast table . Then I check the outside temperature to see what clothes to wear . '' He and his wife , Laura , live in a two-bedroom ranch-style house here in East Dennis , with more than 350 trophies , medals and sweat-stained marathon numbers scattered about . He is n't particular about brands of shoes -LRB- `` I wear them all '' -RRB- or what he eats -LRB- `` I never eat broccoli , but I love steak and ice cream . '' -RRB- Mr. Kelley aims to run till he is at least 100 years old . `` He 's a strange man , '' says Laura Kelley , in awe of her husband 's vigor . The 82-year-old Mrs. Kelley adds , `` I just try to stay in his shadow , but I have a hard time even doing that . '' In a rare moment of reflection , Mr. Kelley explains what makes him tick : `` I paint because I like it . I run because I like it . If for some reason I do n't finish the marathon , I do n't owe an apology to anyone . But I 'll tell you , the Boston Marathon -- with all those people waving -- is better than my birthday . ''
extractive_keyphrases: 60th boston marathon training john kelley runners oldest competitor
abstractive_keyphrases: mr. kelley two-time winner