Veteran Runs to Inspire Others

At an age when many people are looking to slow down and take things a little easier, WoodmenLife member Robert White of Hampton, VA, decided to take on a new hobby.

“I started running when I was 59,” he said. “The first race I ran was in the 60+ group, and I’ve been running ever since.”

A few of White’s running accomplishments include:

• Marine Corps Marathon (age group winner – 1989)
• Shamrock Marathon (1989-91, 1994)
• Boston Marathon (1996)
• Virginia 24-Hour Run/Walk for Cancer (2016)

Now 92 years young, White has nine marathons and numerous shorter runs under his belt. He holds a long list of race records for his age group, and was inducted into the Virginia Peninsula Road Racing Hall of Fame in 2009. Most recently, he ran an 8K and a 5K in July.

“Robert told me the reason he started running was to inspire younger people to live a healthier life,” said Wayne Anderson, White’s WoodmenLife Representative. “And believe me, many people have been and are inspired by him.”

Service to His Country

An Army veteran, White served with the 17^th Airborne division in World War II and earned a Purple Heart after being wounded during the infamous Battle of the Bulge.

“After D-Day, they asked for volunteers to be paratroopers because of all the lives lost in that battle, so I volunteered,” he said. “They trained us in England and then sent us over to France.” While in France, White had a chance encounter with his brother.

“He was with the 101^st and they were traveling one way, and our unit was traveling the other way along the same route,” White said. “And when both units happened to stop as they passed each other, there was my brother almost right across from me on the road.”

A Special Relationship

A WoodmenLife member for 19 years, another way White and his late wife, Marie, inspired people was through their 72-year marriage.

“Many of us in our local WoodmenLife chapter admired how they showed each other such love and respect,” Anderson said. “They had a relationship that exemplifies what marriage is all about.”

Although he lost Marie in 2015 and knee surgery has slowed him down a bit, running is still in White’s blood. “I run three miles every other day, and on the off days I go to the gym,” he said. “If I don’t run, I’m not satisfied and I feel like I’ve lost something.”