Running in the Cold

Athlete: Heide Moebius

Age: 76

Residence: Lancaster, PA

Family: Married for 56 years

Affiliation: Lancaster Road Runners

PRs 70 and Up:

10K: 51:38

10 Miles: 85:34

Half Marathon: 1:54:26

Heide Moebius of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, who started running at 55 and has competed in more than 600 races, will defend her USA national 12K 75–79 title on November 15 in Alexandria, Virginia. Moebius, who turns 77 on November 10, is seeking to earn a third-straight top-three age-graded placing among all women in the race, which is an open and masters championship. Last year, running 65:01, a 94.09 percentage, Moebius was ranked third behind masters superstars Kathryn Martin, 101.21 percent, and Joan Benoit Samuelson, 97.89 percent. Moebius, who will be contesting her 31^st race of 2015, usually finishes well up among women of all ages in her races. In Alexandria last year, Moebius, running 8:44 mile pace for 7.45 miles, placed 123^rd How to Better Pace a Marathon Based on Effort.

Forever Young: Moebius has competed in 611 races, winning her age group in 538 of them. Heide’s husband of 56 years, Richard, serves as her coach and statistician. While Moebius has run every event from the 1500 meters to the marathon—with four U.S. senior Olympics gold medals in the shorter distances—her favorite event is the half marathon. She’s run more than 80 half marathons all over the U.S. and Canada. One of her favorites is Avenue of the Giants through the Redwoods area of northern California.

National Championships: Moebius, who grew up in Germany and came to the U.S. in 1960, has collected five U.S. age-group titles. Her last race before the upcoming 12K was the Beauty and the Beach women’s four-miler on the Jersey Shore in Long Branch. Moebius made a destination race weekend out of it with six other women from her club, Lancaster Road Runners, and she won the 70-plus grand masters division by almost three minutes in 34:22.

Muscular Fitness: With her daily exercise and a healthy diet, Moebius, 5 feet and 90 pounds, maintains a build that’s ideal for running. “Heide is light and strong,” said Richard. “She doesn’t have to overcome a lot of weight and can use her muscular fitness to excel.”

Sports Figure: In her 30s and 40s, Moebius rode horses for recreation, did downhill skiing in New England, Canada and Europe, and started tennis, becoming a top player. “I’m fearless,” she said. In competitive club tennis, Moebius reached the quarterfinals of the 1999 Ladies 60s National Grass Court Championships at the U.S. National Tennis Center in Forest Hills, New York. She continued playing competitively until a few years ago, when traveling to both tennis tournaments and races became too much.

Training Approach: Other than racing on weekends, Moebius runs only once a week. Typically, she does 7 miles on Tuesday evenings with the Lancaster Road Runners. But she buttresses her running by playing singles tennis three times a week for two hours, usually with men. And after tennis, Moebius swims laps for 45 minutes. Moebius also does plenty of walking, daily stretching and calisthenics. “I can’t sit still,” she said.

Coaching Curve: In her mid-50s, Moebius started out running 5Ks, with Richard doing research into gear and training. “I read enormous amounts,” he said. “I used to joke, ‘All you have to do is run. I’ll do the rest.’” With knowledge of biomechanics and running shoes, as well as fastidious review of running courses, the Moebius team was on its way. At races, Heide used to run with Richard’s pacing instructions affixed to her uniform.

Fall Favorites: The Alexandria event will be Moebius’ second 12K of the fall season. On October 24 in Adamstown, Pennsylvania, she ran the hilly Stoudts Brewing Distance Classic 12K in 69:33 for second by four seconds in the 60-and-over division. Moebius does plenty of trail racing, a Lancaster area specialty, and on October 18 she did the Evansburg Challenge 10 Mile Trail Race in Collegeville. Jumping over water crossings and fallen trees, Moebius ran 1:47:17, second in the 60-plus division.

Peak Performance: Just before turning 76 in 2014, Moebius had the best age-graded performance of all 14,968 participants in the Across the Bay 10K, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Run in Maryland. Moebius ran 54:22 for an 89.6 percentage. The event is the sixth-largest 10K in the U.S.

Amish Racing: Lancaster—which celebrated a “Heide Mobius Day” in 2008—is situated in the heart of Pennsylvania’s Amish country, and another Moebius fall favorite is the local Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon. The race includes many Amish in traditional dress among the field of 1,500. A horse and buggy serves as the pace car.

Health Profile: Moebius said, “I feel great. I don’t have any health problems.” She takes little medication and “never needs a headache pill or anything like that.” While running, Moebius will wear a small knee brace but rarely encounters an injury or even a mild discomfort. People who are aware of her athletic exploits come up to her saying, “What—nothing hurts?”

Career Path: As a child in Germany during World War II, Moebius saw her family life in disarray and her home destroyed in Allied bombing. She was able to complete her schooling in Germany, getting a degree in business. After coming to the U.S. following a brief stay in Canada, Moebius worked in the export business, traveling throughout Europe to meet with customers. She retired at 60, then did another six years of consulting.

Shoe Emergency: A month before her only Boston Marathon, in 2002, Moebius’ father died and she went to Germany to be with her family. She came to Boston with little training and, as it turned out, no running shoes. On her flight from Philadelphia, Moebius’ luggage, containing her shoes, was lost. In Boston the day before the race, she bought a pair of shoes at the event expo. At 63, Moebius proceeded to do what was unheard of: run a marathon in brand new shoes. Her feet felt fine and she had no blisters. Her time was 4:48:52.