Always Chasing That Runner's High

Six local runners share their starts, stops, and memories from the trails

By Ross Boissoneau | Oct. 5, 2024

Melinda Mitchell started running in high school. Kelly Slater started when she was nine. Norm Plumstead didn’t start until after college, while Jim Graham started in 1965.

Now in their 50s, 60s, and 70s—putting them in the masters divisions for all races—these runners are among the many locals you’ll see on the streets, sidewalks, or trails, legs and arms pumping as they fly past. Today there are more than 50 million dedicated runners in the U.S., many of whom are probably clocking miles as you read this.

Why do they do it? How often do they run? What worlds are left for them to conquer? These are a couple of the questions posed to a few of the area’s dedicated runners.

Jim Frixen, 61

“The main reason is it’s great exercise,” says Frixen of running. He first laced up his trainers in the 1980s, encouraged by his neighbor and his neighbor’s sister. “I was doing aerobics, so I was already in shape when I took up running in my 20s.”

He says running now helps him stay healthy. “I was in poor health [previously]. I would black out,” he says. Eventually he was diagnosed with low blood sugar. That’s when he started aerobics and then running.

Like many others, Frixen notes the camaraderie among the runners as a key part of its appeal. He serves as the unofficial photographer for the Traverse City Track Club. The nonprofit, Michigan’s largest running club with a membership of more than 900 dedicated runners, formed in 1962 and hosts events including the Bayshore Marathon, Frozen Footrace, and weekly runs at local hot spots like Farm Club, NoBo Mrkt, or Silver Spruce Brewing.

“It’s fun to have the Fun Run Wednesdays,” Frixen says. “We get together and run from somewhere we can come back to where we can get some food and drink.”

Frixen admits he no longer pushes himself as much as he did in years gone by. “As I’m older, I don’t do as many races as I used to. I probably did at least 20 or more a year. Now it’s five or six. Plus I’m not as fast as I used to be, but I’m still in great shape,” he says.

Recent race stats: Frixen ran a 57:14 in the 2024 Frozen Foot Race 5-mile, taking 8th place in the male 60-64 division and 153rd overall.

Jim Graham, 75

“I never thought I’d have that competitive urge” at this point, says the 75-year-old Graham. But here we are, and there he goes. “In 1965 I was a high school runner. I was the size and weight to make a distance runner. I was pretty good.”

Why run in the first place? “I wasn’t a good enough baseball player,” he says drily. But as a runner he was plenty good enough. “I ran in the state finals my junior and senior year. I was all-state,” he says.

When running became the next “in” thing, and Graham was already there. “This was way back before the running revolution in the ’70s. A lot of us thought after high school we’d be done, but it became more and more popular.”

And now here we are all these years later, and Graham admits to still having those competitive urges. “I don’t like to get beat,” he says. And in that he’s not alone. “I’m surprised how many competitive runners there are in their 70s.”

Competing with others isn’t the only draw, and Graham organizes the weekly fun runs for the Traverse City Track Club. “The social aspect, the synergy with others—it’s easier when they pull you along. There is such a thing as a runner’s high. It’s work, but it’s an amazing feeling. It keeps you in shape.”

For Graham, the continuation of his running experience comes down to seizing every opportunity. “It could be the last day. You don’t want to just let it pass by.”

Recent race stats: Graham ran a 26:31 in the 2023 Traverse City Zombie 5K Run, taking 1st place in the male 70-74 division and 115th overall.

Kelly Slater, 60

In the state of Illinois where she grew up, Slater says mandatory recess in the early grades helped push her into running. “I started when I was nine,” she says. “In high school I was a track runner. Not in college—I wish I had.”

Though she gave it up as a competitive team sport, Slater says she doesn’t think there was a time when she wasn’t running. Today she favors quality over quantity, running three times a week, typically totaling some 15 miles on a weekly basis. “I still race quite a bit—5K, 10K.” She says it’s about both physical and mental conditioning. “It’s my ‘me’ time,” she says, an opportunity to clear her mind.

It’s also a way to gather with like-minded friends. “I’m vice president of the Traverse City Track Club. Jim Graham is head of the fun run, and I’m his handy assistant. I’m a social runner. I like to talk [with other runners]. In the peak of summer we’ll get 80 people [at the fun runs]. This week it was about 60.” Slater says even in the winter they gather, though they might have as few as 15.

Slater says she’s as competitive as ever, but with herself, striving to beat her own previous times. “I love to encourage others, love when people beat me. I’m super competitive with myself.”

She says the best thing about aging as a runner is there are always new age groups just ahead, and she can start over. Now at 60 she’s in a brand-new category, where she can set new goals and new records.

Recent race stats: Slater ran a 27:52 in the 2023 Farmland 5K, taking 1st place in the female 55-59 division and 52nd overall.

Norm Plumstead, 52

Plumstead, the President and CEO of Honor Bank, is a mere 52, but he’s already had his share of running adventures. That includes some that went further than he intended.

“I did a 50-mile race I trained for in fall 2019. I took a wrong turn on a trail and it became a 63-mile race,” he says.

Plumstead was also one of the participants in the Run Across Ethiopia, the project of the non-profit On The Ground a decade ago, where a small group of U.S. and Ethiopian runners ran 250 miles across Ethiopia. Organized by Chris Treter of Higher Grounds coffee company, the event’s goal was to raise $175,000 to build and supply schools in the fair-trade coffee growing regions.

“We ran a marathon a day for 10 days. It was mind-blowing, amazing,” says Plumstead. “I’d never traveled to Africa. We created great bonds with the team and with Ethiopian runners and assistants.”

His start was humble—and humbling. “I had some bad habits, and running was a tool to break them. In Chicago, my roommate and I decided to run the Chicago Marathon. We finished, even though we got passed by two people dressed as M&Ms.” Since then he’s run half-marathons, ultramarathons, and more. “I did a few 50-mile, a couple hundred-mile.”

Recent race stats: Though he hasn’t competed in a race since the fall of 2019 (that ill-fated 63-mile 50-miler), Plumstead hasn’t stopped running, he’s just branched out.

“I don’t want to be a one-trick pony. The break [from the pandemic] forced me to diversify,” Plumstead says, pointing to activities including tennis and strength work. And he has a vision for the future. “I plan on getting back to competing. I want to continue to do this as age advances. That’s the plan, do longer distances on the trails when I’m 72, 82, 92.”

Jeremy Treadwell (64) and Melinda Mitchell (66)

Running is a husband-and-wife thing for Jeremy Treadwell and Melinda Mitchell. Though it started as a girl thing, then a girlfriend and boyfriend thing.

“I met her at MSU in 1980. She had just finished running the Detroit Free Press Marathon,” says Treadwell.

Treadwell wasn’t yet a runner, but Mitchell had already been competing. “She started in high school. She was the only girl on the cross-country team.” That was a time when girls and women were grudgingly accepted in races, if they were accepted at all. So Mitchell ran Bonne Bell races, a series of races sponsored by the cosmetic company.

She soon got him hooked on the sport. “The next year we ran it [the Free Press Marathon] together. We’ve been running together ever since,” Treadwell says.

Treadwell says that as they’ve aged, they have learned to take care of themselves. They do yoga, cross-country ski in the winter, and always make sure they stretch plenty before running. “I had an injury in my mid-40s. I was trying to get greedy. I wasn’t giving myself enough recovery time,” Treadwell notes.

These days he says competing in races is another way to motivate himself. It’s more a means than an end.

“What I enjoy most is cheering others, the camaraderie in my pace group.” And he has no plans to quit. “My fastest races are behind me, but I’m proud to say I’m still fast. People say I’m fast for an old guy. I can finish in the top 10 percent, often win my age group. I tell people my goal is to win my age group [in] a 10K at 100.”

No doubt Mitchell will be at his side.

Recent race stats: Treadwell ran a 23:29 in the 2023 Farmland 5K, taking 1st place in the male 60-64 division and 17th overall. Mitchell ran a 30:14 in the 2023 Traverse City Zombie 5K Run, taking 1st place in the female 65-69 division and 215th overall.