Mr. Nice guy

Richard Dunn

NEWPORT BEACH - It just goes to show that Nice guys do finish

first.

And, Bill Nice, the Newport Beach senior long-distance running

sensation, has proved the adage that it’s never too late to start

something new in life as long as you’re breathing.

“I don’t feel well unless I have a run. It keeps the juices flowing,”

said Nice, an 85-year-old retired airline pilot who didn’t start running

until age 57, “so I could keep up with my kids on backpacking trips,

primarily.”

Nice, perhaps Newport’s most inspiring runner with innumerable

age-group road-race victories, mostly in 5K races, will be the oldest,

and one of the quickest, runners in the field Saturday in the 14th annual

Harbor Heritage Run at Newport Harbor High. The featured 5K race will

begin at 8:30 a.m.

Nice is reminded by others how lucky he is to be running competitively

at his age more often than inquiries about his surname. “They say, ‘Are

you really?’ And I say it depends on how I’m treated,” Nice said.

Nice, the U.S. national age-group record holder in the 5K for ages 83,

84 and 85 (with the 85 mark still pending U.S. Track and Field approval),

has limited his training to only 15 miles a week. But the winning results

are still there.

“I like that sprint work. It juices you up,” said Nice, who runs in

his neighborhood and nearby Back Bay, and goes to Newport Harbor High

once a week for sprint work with his good friend, Robert Kay.

“Running helped me quit smoking when I retired (from United

Airlines).”

On July 30, Nice captured first place in the men’s 85 age group at the

Turf and Surf 5K in Del Mar, setting a national record in 28 minutes 11

seconds and breaking the previous mark established in 1992 by 15 seconds.

Nice has won the prestigious West Coast Championships in Carlsbad the

last several years, including a national record-breaking time last year

at age 84. Nice also set the national mark among 83-year-olds at the

Carlsbad 5K.Although the weeks of running 25-to-30 miles are in a holding

pattern because of a recent hamstring injury, Nice is geared up for

Saturday’s race at Newport Harbor High, which features a picturesque

course through Newport Heights with gently rolling hills, ocean and bay

views and cool breezes.

“I’m planning on (running), if I hold together,” Nice said. “I was

planning on it last year, but I got injured the week before. I’ve run in

(the Harbor Heritage Run) quite a few times.”

For race details: (949) 645-5806.