Richard Wallen is a retired school administrator, coach, and college counselor. He already has 99 marathon medals but after running more than 2,600 miles over the years, his 100th marathon will still feature a first -- he's going to do it slowly.
"Ordinarily I would go out there and just work my butt off and run as fast as I can -- but not this time," he said. "This is special. I'm going to run slow, I'm going to slap hands with the kids, I'm going to stop and take pictures along the way."
Wallen has already run the Boston Marathon 14 times. He says he first decided to give it a try after watching his wife do it. She has run it 19 times, but he's not far behind. "I've already qualified for the 2015 Boston Marathon," he said.
Wallen says, "It's always a thrill to try to beat people your age when you're running." But this time around, he's going to take his time and honor the bombing victims.
The Boston Marathon is scheduled for April 21.
