Neighbors: Robert O'Connor

When Robert O’Connor was 35, he suffered an ACL injury that put an end to his rugby career, and doctors told him that he would never be able to participate in any activity that involved lateral movement. After eight weeks in a cast, the Ireland native began rehab to rebuild the muscles in his right leg and found that walking, and eventually running, allowed him to exercise without using lateral movements.

Several months later, O’Connor completed his first marathon and was immediately hooked. Since then, the 72-year-old has completed at least one race each year, for a total of 57 marathons on six continents. In July, the Sarasota resident will leave for a marathon in Rio de Janeiro, which will place him in the ranks of the exclusive Seven Continents Club, a small, virtual group of a little more than 300 runners who have managed to complete a marathon on every continent.

O’Connor says one reason the club is so exclusive is because of the limited availability of access to one of the most unforgiving locations — Antarctica. Runners must arrange to be transported by Russian research ships across the notoriously rough seas of the Drake Passage, and because of strict environmental protection efforts, few people are able to participate in the icy run.

Still, O’Connor says the most difficult marathon he’s run was not in Antarctica, but in China, where runners traversed the top of the Great Wall of China, where it runs along steep mountaintops.

“It was physically the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” O’Connor says.

Runners were flown into a remote mountainous area, where there was an 8-mile stretch of the wall that was intact, and he and the rest of the group had to climb the steep mountainside — using a goat trail at one point — before even beginning the marathon.

“In most marathons, you run out of steam at about 20 miles,” O’Connor says. “At about the 18-mile mark, we had to climb back up on the wall. A lot of people couldn’t finish those last few miles, but it was spectacular up there.”

O’Connor’s quest to run the globe has placed him in equally scenic and challenging environments, including the site of the original marathon in Athens, Greece, near Ayers Rock in the Australian outback, and a four-day run through the Sahara Desert.

Although his running has taken him all over the world, O’Connor says one of his favorite places to run and train is right here in Oscar Scherer State Park, where he also volunteers.

Less than 1% of marathon runners fall in the 70 and older category, but as he prepares for the marathon in Brazil, O’Connor says neither his knee problems nor his age will hold him back.

“You can’t give up,” he says of his injury. “Find a way. Don’t quit because it hurts, and don’t ever think of age as a limitation.”