Peter O’Brien is proving that age does not have to slow you down.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
Just a few weeks ago, at the age of 75, he completed the London Marathon.
It’s a goal Peter had originally intended to tick off in 2020, until COVID-19 hit.
Now that he has completed London, Peter has now finished all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.
He is one of only 200 Australians to have achieved the honour.
The six majors consist of Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, New York, Boston and London.
They are some of the most prestigious and sought-after in the world, with athletes completing 42.195km across some of the most famous city streets on Earth.
When asked how it all started Peter had a little chuckle and started to wind back the clock.
“It probably started back when I was 50 and David (my son) was doing triathlons,” he said.
“We would go off to the triathlons and I would be sitting there watching him.
“I thought, ‘well stuff it, I will have a go at this’.”
So Peter started to compete in the triathlons, but soon learned there was one thing holding him back from doing as well as he would like.
“After a few triathlons I soon realised that I couldn’t swim very well at all,” he said, a little horrified.
“The swimming leg was killing me, so I gave up triathlons.”
It was at about the same time that friend and fellow local John Trist was getting ready for the Melbourne marathon.
“So I decided to do that,” Peter said.
“Tristy, Dave and I did a bit of training together and, in 1997, we did Melbourne.
“I was fairly happy with my result. It was my best time ever which was three hours, 10 minutes and 40 seconds.
“I was 50 years old and that was my first effort.”
Peter let it go for a while and when he got to 60 he started again and did Melbourne, Gold Coast and a few other marathons.
In 2016 Peter, David and Peter’s daughter Michelle decided to enter for Berlin in 2017.
“You have to enter at least a year ahead, as the majors are decided by ballot; it’s luck of the draw,” Peter said.
“You can be selected on times for Boston, New York and Chicago.
“For London there were more than 500,000 applications and only about 48,000 runners are selected by the ballot.
“We have been very lucky.”
In 2017, the three headed off to Berlin along with Peter’s wife Lynette O’Brien.
“To get to do Berlin with the two kids was fabulous,” Peter said.
“Lynette went with us and we shared an apartment there.
“To run through the Brandenburg Gate and across where the Berlin Wall was was pretty unbelievable.
“The three of us ran and it was just awesome. Davo sacrificed his run to run with me, and we ran across the finish line together.
“It was really memorable.”
It was while in Berlin the family learned of the Abbott World Marathon Majors, and it was the catalyst to working toward the other five.
“I was fairly determined that I could do all six while I was in the 70-74 age bracket,” Peter said.
“I got five of them done and then COVID hit. London 2020 would not go ahead.
“It was really disappointing.
“I was second in my age group in Australia and 16th in the world at that time.”
Peter thought he had retired after COVID hit, and he did for about six months, but then he set the final stage of the six majors in his sights.
“Once you stop running it’s very hard to get going again, especially at my age,” he said.
With a strong will and a gentle nudge from his kids, he started training again.
“A lot of people wouldn’t go through what you have to go through to get to the marathon.
“I trained full on for nine months to get ready for London, but when we were running the others we were training for 12 months of the year.
“I trained five to six days a week, doing 60km to 80km a week.
“I was up every morning at 5am and out you go. Some mornings, depending on the time of year, you have to have a head light on to see where you are going.
“It’s a fair commitment, but once you get yourself out the door everyday for a few weeks its hard not to go out.”
Daughter Michaelle and a few of Michelle’s friends also competed in the UK.
“They close off all the streets in the heart of London,” Peter said.
“They broadcast it live and there are millions of people lining the streets.
“It was light, persistent rain the day we ran London and the crowd were still standing there ten deep to cheer you on,.”
Despite describing his London run as “slow”, Peter managed to beat home more than half the field in all ages to be awarded the Six Star Major medal.
“I was ninth out of 52 in my age group in London.
“There are only 200 people in Australia who have achieved the Six Star medal and I’m not certain, but possibly only 13,000 worldwide,” he said.
“The reception you get when you finish when you have won the medal is amazing.”
And if completing the six official majors and a handful of local marathons was not enough for Peter, he added more on to his haul over the years.
He says the Paris marathon is still his favourite.
“You start down at the Champ Elysees and you go around every major monument in Paris, it’s amazing,” he said.
Peter says he would not have been able to have this “interesting journey” without the support of his wife and children.
“You would think with my kids that I might be inspiring them, but it’s exactly the opposite. They are the ones bullying and inspiring me,” he said with great pride.
“We talk a lot about running as a family.
“I can’t emphasise enough that without David and Michelle I wouldn’t have got anywhere near where I am now.
“They pushed and prodded me on.”
Michelle described her father as “truly inspiring”.
“It was great to do the marathons as a family, it was very special,” she said.
“I also had a few girlfriends run London with us, so that was wonderful as well.”
“At work as soon as I mention I did a marathon (with my dad) it is like I’m invisible; I’m sidelined and he is the star,” she said laughing, but completely comfortable with allowing her father to be in the spotlight.
Peter said he will slow down for a bit, but when asked if he would attempt another marathon he said “we will wait and see”.
“Never say never,” he said, despite admitting David would like to see him take it easier.
“I’ll probably still do a little bit of running now just to keep in shape.
“That way if I do decide to do any more, I will be prepared,” he said with a hint of cheek.