“The first day of the year is the marathon,” is how he describes its importance in his life. “And all year, you’re waiting for that day.”
Dobson, a retired bricklayer, suffers osteoarthritis in the hips and back spasms.
David Foskey, pictured in the Melbourne CBD towards the end of the 1981 Melbourne Marathon.
But David Foskey, the eldest of the running trio, has faith in the mate he trains with – 30 minutes of jogging, two hours of gas-bagging in a cafe in Malvern East – every Tuesday.
“John will do it. We will all do it,” Foskey says. “It’s very important to us.”
Foskey, 79, ran the 1978 Melbourne Marathon with a then-undiagnosed stress fracture in his leg, but today is in good nick.
“I think my family would be secretly relieved if I chose not to run,” Foskey says. But he adds: “It’s something we do which is pretty unique, and it’s the only way I’m going to achieve that, particularly at this age.”
The youngest and fastest of the group, Wayne Thompson, 72, of Seaford, wants to be like American legend Johnny Kelley, who finished 58 Boston Marathons, and winning it twice.
“I’m competitive, not that crazy competitive, but if I’m doing something, I’m focused on that thing.”
In 1986, Thompson fell on to concrete a month before the Melbourne Marathon and suffered a hairline fracture in his kneecap. Of course, he ran in the marathon.
“It just hurt, the whole way,” he said, as did his time, slipping from two hours 40 minutes the previous year, to three hours and 30 minutes.
Wayne Thompson crosses the finish line outside Melbourne Town Hall in 1980.
Thompson says the marathon gives his life a reassuring focus.
Also inspiring the trio are the plaudits from other runners.
John Dawson-Wink, 54, who has done 14 Melbourne Marathons, says: “They’re amazing. I think about me in 20 years time and go ‘how have they been able to achieve it?’ I guess we all aspire to be like them.”
The 2025 Melbourne Marathon starts at 6.30am on October 12 in Batman Avenue and finishes at the MCG. Spectators are welcome.
Entries for the five-kilometre Chobani Fit Walk are still open, to register go to melbournemarathon.com.au
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