Some men celebrate their 80th birthday with a casual walk in the park.
Others pick out a nice spot on a Jersey beach to catch up on a little reading.
No doubt there are a few content just to plunk down in front of a TV set and watch an afternoon baseball game.
Those options, however, were not on Tom Jennings’ to-do list when the big octogenarian day arrived.
Instead, the Warminster native joined a bevy of well-wishers on the track of Germantown Academy, where he’s been an assistant coach for the past 11 years, in an attempt to run a (sub-) 8-minute mile. His son, Pete, is the head track and cross country coach there.
And, by golly, Tom did just that, cranking out an amazing 7:46 to the delight of all those who paced him through those memorable 5,280 feet.
Nary a soul at this incredible event was really all that surprised. Jennings, who was highly competitive in the Bucks County Roadrunners Club’s Winter Series for 2024-25, has been a mainstay in every distance from a mile to a marathon for decades.
So this nationally ranked effort caught few off guard.
The whole thing began when Tom thought about taking four spins around the Germantown track at birthday No. 80 to crack the 8-minute mark.
“I decided I would involve my team,” Jennings said in a telephone interview. “I would have all of my distance runners pace me. For the final lap, the whole team joined in.
“It turned out to be a big deal at the school. They posted it on their Instagram account. Got a lot of response from that.”
What keeps him going at these eyebrow-raising race times into his 80s?
“Just the love of the sport,” Jennings said. “I guess I’ve been lucky to be relatively injury-free, relatively sound of body.
“I love the competition. I’m nationally competitive in my age group.”
One of his other career highlights occurred on his 65th birthday. He ran a spectacular time of 5:35 for the mile on an indoor track at Glen Mills School during a Mid-Atlantic All-Comers meet.
Jennings has been affiliated with the Ambler and Greater Philadelphia track clubs for a number of years. He was made aware of the BCRR through friends in the Ambler club, who encouraged him to give the Winter Series a try, which he has now done for the past three years.
In a way, the Winter Series has re-energized his running career.
“Just the whole scene,” he said. “The spirit of the event, the courses (in Tyler State Park) are very challenging. The camaraderie, the food are great. The club puts out an amazing spread every week.”
His connection with running goes all the way back to his high school days at Bishop McDevitt, where he competed in track and cross country in the early ‘60s.
He wound up at La Salle University in Philadelphia but not before one quick stop at St. Charles Seminary where he studied to be a priest.
Eventually he earned his degree at La Salle in psychology, which made for an interesting blend with his running. It’s safe to say most runners are always looking for little “psychological advantages” and this fit right into Jennings’ makeup.
Like most runners after college, Jennings took some time off from the sport but then picked it up again in the late ‘70s, when the Frank Shorter-Bill Rodgers running boom was in high gear.
He was competitive for decades after that, still posting a 3:25 for his seventh Boston Marathon in 2006 at age 62.
At 64, he broke 20 minutes (19:43) for 5K. Even now, he’s still clocking in under 26 minutes. Just this year, he finished the Broad Street 10-Miler at Philadelphia in under 1:35.
Jennings, a Fort Washington resident, does believe that from a psychological standpoint, running is sort of chicken soup for the soul.
“I think that’s been researched and pretty well established,” he said. “It has positive mental health benefits. Certainly, just being physically active is positive for physical and mental health.
“The act of running can produce that ‘runner’s high.’ In Bucks County, I have seen people’s lives change by joining a running club. They develop a whole new social network. Some of them have gotten married. I think the social benefits are really a key.”
It’s safe to say there are more than a few runners who walk up to Jennings and ask him how he does it.
“I just try to live a healthy lifestyle,” he explained. “I try to eat a healthy diet. I’m very lucky to have a slight physique. Right now I’m about 5-foot-9, 120 pounds. I’m not bearing a lot of weight when I run.”
Tom and his wife, Nancy, have two sons. In addition to Pete, there’s Alex. Pete has three children – Quinn (14), Reid (12) and Ivy (7).
Two of the grandchildren held the finish line tape when grandpa completed the once-in-a-lifetime run at Germantown.
Now that’s what you call having a patriarch paying a gift forward. And no one does it better than Tom Jennings.
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