When the starting gun for the 48th Catalina Island Marathon goes off, among the runners hitting the island trails will be 72-year-old Bobby Porter and when he crosses the finish line, he will have completed the Catalina Island Triple Crown Challenge.
The award is given to a runner who completes the islands three big races, the marathon, half marathon and the 50K\50mile. In Bobby’s nearly 60 years of running, he’s completed the runs before, but this will be his first time doing all three in a 12-month span. Those who do, receive a Triple Crown finisher jacket, Hi-Tec shoes and a belt buckle.
But Bobby isn’t in it for the prizes. In fact, he didn’t realize he was eligible for it, until officials at Spectrum Sports Management (the race organizers) informed him of it. He’ll happily accept the prizes, in fact, he admits he’s a little excited to see the belt buckle, but he’d be here even if the challenge wasn’t offered.
“I started running on Catalina in the mid ‘80s and I love every minute of it,” Bobby said.
He began running as a high school freshman, at a school with a nationally recognized cross-country team. In high school, he was just over four feet tall. He asked the coach if he could be on the team. The coach asked him if he would be at practice every day and work hard.
“Sir, I will do the best I can,” Bobby replied.
That was good enough for the coach. Bobby never cracked the top varsity lineup, but he wasn’t in it to try to be the best. He was in it just to run. And he has never wavered from that mindset. He soon adopted his own personal mantra: “I don’t run because I have to, I run because I get to.” In 58 years of running, he has completed well over 60 races of marathon length or more.
Along the way, he also spent most of that time working in Hollywood. His height topped out at 4’10” and someone suggested early on that he might be in demand in Hollywood as a stuntman, standing in for child actors and smaller statured adults. The tip proved correct, as Bobby quickly found work in films, both stunts and acting.
In 1973 he played Cornelius, the son of Caesar, in Battle for the Planet of the Apes. He worked steadily through the early 2000s, including 138 episodes of Malcom in the Middle, according to IMDb website. He’s basically retired now, but admits that ‘no one really retires from Hollywood, Hollywood retires from you.’ Now he considered himself a professional grandpa.
But he still runs. And he says the friendships and community he has met on the trails, has been one of the biggest rewards of the sport. He became friends with Tiffany Costello, a world-class runner who once qualified for the Olympic trials.
He ran the Catalina 50K back in November because she was running her first ultra-marathon and he wanted to be here for support. But when he neared the finish line, he saw some men cheering and yelling that he was almost there.
Bobby was on his last leg, tired, in pain and focused on the final stretch and trying to cross the finish line. He didn’t realize the men shouting encouragement were his sons (two biological, one a childhood friend of his boys, who he thinks of as a third son.) It wasn’t until they came up to him after he crossed the finish line that he realized who they were.
“I had no idea they were going to be there,” Bobby said.
They had a hand-made sign that read “You don’t have to be here, you get to be here!”
And Bobby will be here again on Saturday. His first trip to Catalina was in 1963, and 35 years ago, he was part of a Boy Scout Troop that came over to set up a volunteer aid station for runners in the marathon. The Catalina Island Marathon has been around for 48 years – longer than the Los Angeles Marathon. Bobby has no plans of slowing down any time soon and he said the Catalina races offer some great experiences. Not just for the views and scenery, but the organizers and volunteers do a great job for the runners, he said.
“It is a very special place to run,” Bobby said.
