Turner keeps running
Long time runner David Turner poses for a portrait with all of his medals he has won over the years at The Northeast Georgian on Aug. 12, 2025.
David Turner has won about every type of race you can think of and there seems to be no quit in him anytime soon.
The 85-year-old ‘s motto is “Our bodies don’t fail us. We fail our bodies.”
“Bodies are made for movement, and when we stop moving them, they become very sedentary and we’ve got to keep them moving,” Turner said. “If I didn’t keep moving in about a year’s time, I’d be a basket case, you know?”
Turner and his wife Mary reside in Habersham County. The Turners have two grown children, Michelle and Bert; both of them have families of their own now.
Last March, one of the highlights for Turner was placing third in a 6K cross country race in his age group at the 10th World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships in Gainesville, Fla. Placing third felt special for Turner because he raced against runners from across the globe.
The WMA promotes premier athletic events for athletes 35 and over of all abilities and encourages their passion for active, healthy competition, global camaraderie and celebratory spirit.
The veteran runner has been doing this for about 60 years now and has run over 160,000 miles. That’s like going across Earth six and a half times. He usually does about 2,700 to 2,800 miles a year.
After getting his hip replaced about five years ago, he started going to the gym and doing cross training, and he feels even in better shape than when he was just running. He runs about 25 to 30 local races a year.
The Texas native hated running in high school, but he soon would find out that it would become his enjoyment and passion. He ran his first Peachtree Road Race in 1977. Turner is a coordinator for the Atlanta Track Club’s 80-year-old team. He tries to get more older people involved.
“I have just as much excitement on the starting line as I did, as a nine year old kid,” he said. “I say that just keep doing it, and that’s my motive for a senior adult. That’s one thing I’ve always tried to say, keep doing it. Keep doing it.”
Turner said to always listen to your body if you need to slow down or if your body is telling you not to run today.
“That’s always been, one of my missions is to set an example, you don’t have to quit,” he said. “You’ve got to run through the injuries, aches and pains, you know, listen to your body. If your body says you can’t do it today, come back and do it tomorrow. But don’t quit.
Water is something Turner emphasized that is so important for a runner and for everyone in general.
When Turner was younger he wanted to continue to run till he was 80 years old and now he hopes to make it to 90 years old.
“In my case, though, I don’t think that until you get an injury or just something happened,” he said. “I don’t see that happening anytime soon for me, because I’m probably as fit as I was in the 60s. I’m obviously not running that. And that’s the other thing you have to do, you have to accept slowing down. I don’t like how I look at my times now.”
