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http://www.omniture.com --> Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Advertisement Email Story to a Friend May 8, 2006 With Mount McLoughlin in the background, Gladys Burrill trains for the Honolulu Marathon on her property in Prospect. (Mail Tribune / Jim Craven) Tracking 'The Gladyator' By JENNIFER STRANGE for the Mail Tribune PROSPECT — Imagine a young girl running up and down the hills of Western Washington in the early 20th century. Mount Saint Helens blocks out a giant triangle of the sky, distant fields are filled with golden crops. The small, nearby hills are part of a modest farm. That girl grew up to be Gladys Burrill, and that land provides a hard life for her , her single mother and her five siblings, left fatherless after a mining-related illness took the man who brought the family to the United States from their native Finland. "My mother would just look at me like I was crazy, having fun on the hills that she had to work so hard," says Gladys "Glady" Burrill, now 87. "But I never felt sorry for myself and I've never been able to sit still." And so started the life of an adventurous athlete whose restless feet have kept her on the move through relocating in the mid-20th century to Prospect, raising a family during World War II and helping her husband, Gene Burrill, build his sawmill business. "I make work for myself all the time," Gladys Burrill says of a life filled with family, travel and 40 acres of wooded property. "If I'm not walking or running, I'm always starting something." Most recently, Burrill started a new life as a celebrity, thanks to her passion for walking. For the last two years, Burrill has finished the 26.2-mile Honolulu Marathon, making her the oldest person to hold that title. Featured in Fodor's "The Traveling Marathoner," which just hit bookstores last month, Burrill's face and marathon moniker have become famous. "They started calling me 'The Gladyator' in the Honolulu newspaper article that came out on Thanksgiving Day in 2004," Burrill remembers. During that year's and the following years' races, fans have crowded the sidelines, shouting "Go, Gladyator, go!" And go she did, finishing both races in about nine hours. Thanks to Team Glady--a name that her husband, children, grandchildren and friends wear on their T-shirts--Burrill isn't alone. "Every mile she's walked in the marathon, I've walked along with her," says grandson Mike Burrill Jr. "It's quite an honor to walk next to grandma." To train for the Honolulu Marathon, Gladys Burrill hikes 10 acres of trails that another grandson built on her Prospect property. She also hits the freeway and other paved roads before the race so her body gets used to walking on pavement. Then, in early November, she moves to a small apartment in Honolulu and starts training in earnest. By the time the December marathon rolls around, she's raring to go, looking forward to her breakfast of instant oatmeal served uncooked with milk and a pre-dawn starting line illuminated by an explosion of fireworks. "It's so emotional and overpowering, I just have to do it," Burrill says of her now-yearly trek. "When I get to the top of Diamondhead, I feel giddy and then people are cheering me on and Gene's waiting for me at the finish line. But the real reason I do it is that so many people seem to benefit." Burrill's defiance of her age and convention has lit a fire under several friends and strangers who credit her for their own growing interest in fitness and walking. "She's such a presence," says Mike Burrill. "She does what most people believe can't be done and that's inspiring." What's The Gladyator's secret? She stays fit thanks to a fairly Spartan lifestyle that's free of vices and full of fresh fruits, vegetables and a small amount of chicken and fish. She also says she prays every day, thinking of things she'd like to do and hoping her wishes are granted. But most of all, Burrill scoffs at the notion of age being a limiting factor in the fullness of a person's life. "People can feel old at any age," she says. "But if you have the commitment to do what you dream, you'll never feel old. For me, I have to keep doing something and I'm gonna keep walking." Having just returned from a training trip to Honolulu and several publicity sessions, Burrill is now planning for the 2006 race, which takes place Dec. 10. Jennifer Strange is a freelancer living in Central Point. Reach her at [email protected]. Advertisement s Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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