76-year-old man runs 46th Chicago Marathon, and doesn't plan to stop. 'I couldn't not finish.'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A 76-year-old Chicago man has been running the Chicago Marathon ever since it began.
George Mueller is one of three men who have run 26.2 miles across the city for the Chicago Marathon every year for more than 40 years.
Even though it was an exhausting day, there was no way Mueller was going to miss the 46th annual Chicago Marathon.
"It was like I couldn't not finish this year," he said. "If I had stopped running, there'd be somewhat of a space in my life that needs to be filled."
Mueller has been running the Chicago Marathon every year since it started.
He's a retired dentist and military veteran. He started running in 1975 to get in shape. Two years later, he ran the first Chicago Distance Classic, which he said was a 20K. Then in 1978, he heard about the Chicago Marathon.
"I said, 'Well, what the heck? Let me try doing that,' and ran it. My knee went out on me a little bit at the halfway mark, and I managed to soldier on through," he said.
He's one of three men who have taken the 26.2-mile journey each year, trekking across 29 of the city's neighborhoods. They're called the alumni runners.
"We're all kind of rooting for each other to get through each year on that. So 77 or 47 is going to loom large next year," Mueller said.
Two years ago, he had a hamstring injury. It took him a year to recover, but he still ran that year.
"I've just been fortunate not to have any major illnesses or injuries that prevented me," he said.
Mueller said his legs and feet were sore while running the marathon, but his family members were among the more than 1 million spectators who motivated him to cross the finish line.
"Put it this way, I couldn't not finish. I had no choice in the matter, especially this year," he said.
He could hear his family thanks to his son and stadium horn.
The family wore shirts saying "George's Run Crew, Chicago Marathon Forty-Six." The back shows how many miles, kilometers, yards and feet he's ran since 1978.
"I need my exercise, and I can't do without it, and I think the older you get, the more you need it too. Use it or lose it," Mueller said.
He now holds his medal with pride.
"It's hard to put into words, something like that, when you do it and you know some of the difficulties of doing it and appreciate what everybody else is going through too," Mueller said.
Mueller finished the marathon in 7 hours and 43 minutes. He said he's already training for next year's marathon.