This 85-Year-Old Has Been Running The Same Banff Race Since 1979

Jim Frey first ran Melissa’s Road Race in 1979. Forty-seven years later, he hasn’t missed a single one.

This September, the Calgarian will return to Banff to continue a tradition that began nearly five decades ago.

Melissa’s is one of Canada’s longstanding road races, offering five-kilometre, 10-kilometre and half-marathon distances in and around Banff National Park.

Since its inaugural year, the race has grown immensely, drawing thousands of runners each fall for its mountain setting and social atmosphere.

Frey has watched much of that history unfold firsthand.

Everyone has to start somewhere

When Frey began his journey, he was still pretty new to the starting line. 

“I was not a distance runner at all,” Frey told Bow Valley Insider.

He earned a physical education degree from the University of Calgary and grew up playing hockey, basketball, football, and was a swimmer.

That started changing after he became a teacher.

Frey and a fellow teacher began using their lunch hours to get outside and run, sometimes covering a mile and a half and sometimes two or three.

“One thing led to another,” Frey said.

After entering a couple of 10Ks, Frey headed to Banff for Melissa’s in 1979. 

It was only his second road race.

“We really enjoyed the atmosphere of the run,” he said. “The race was really done well, the weather was nice.”

There was another draw, too.

“We always loved the mountains to begin with,” Frey said.

A Family Affair

Frey was married with a young child when he started running Melissa’s, and it didn't take long for the race to become more than another reason to escape the city. 

“It became kind of a social weekend,” he said.

Every September, the family began planning a trip around it.

“We usually got there on a Friday night, raced on Saturday and then stayed Sunday and, of course, back to Calgary for school on Monday,” Frey said.

The mountains were already a big part of their lives. Frey said his family spent plenty of time camping when his children were growing up and continued making trips west from Calgary even when there wasn't a race to run.

“The scenery, the air, the atmosphere and Banff is perfect for that,” he said.

Not every autumn brought perfect running conditions, though. 

“There’s been a couple of really cold ones,” Frey said. “It’s not always fun to run in really cold weather.”

Still, the family kept coming back.

“The mountains just seem to bring out enjoyment for us,” he said. “We don’t just go there to race at Melissa’s. We go there for weekends and just a day drive up and tour around.”

From Road Races To Triathlons

While the road race was time honoured, it was just the beginning of a long relationship between Frey and the Sport. 

The more Frey ran, the more involved he became.

“I got fairly competitive in my age group,” he said. “I did very well in the races, not only in Melissa’s but different races.”

Eventually, his enthusiasm led him to triathlon.

With a background in swimming and his newfound experience running, he just needed to learn to cycle.

“The two went hand in hand, the triathlon training,” Frey said.

Over the years, he’s completed nine marathons.

In 2006, however, Frey faced an injury that could have ended running career altogether.

He was training for a triathlon when he was run off the road and broke his right femur near the hip.

“It never healed, so they put a new hip replacement in,” Frey said.

He was told he probably wouldn't run again.

“But I fooled him,” he said.

Four years after his accident, Frey said he won his age group at the 70.3 world championship in Clearwater, Florida.

Through all of this, Melissa’s remained on his calendar.

After about two decades of watching him return year after year, Frey said race organizers began taking notice. After his 25th race, they gave him a complimentary entry.

“That motivated me to continue to go,” Frey said.

Eventually, simply keeping the streak alive became part of the motivation.

“I thought, well gee, if I keep this string going, it won’t hurt,” he said. “So one thing led to another and I continue to never miss a race.”

Even the pandemic didn't end it.

According to race organizers, when Melissa’s moved to a virtual format during COVID, Frey still participated. 

Running At 85

Years later, Frey's training looks a little bit different.

He isn't running marathons anymore, sticking primarily to five- and 10-kilometre distances.

“The runs I’m doing now are shorter runs,” he said. “I don’t do a lot of training distance-wise, but I do a lot of quality training, shorter distances.”

He still swims, bikes and runs, and interval training remains a regular part of his routine.

Frey is also realistic about what nearly five decades of aging means for his pace.

“My times are way slower than what I was doing when I was 50 or 55, but that’s just part of aging,” he said.

Instead of trying to match the runner he was decades ago, Frey has adjusted what he's working toward.

“You’ve got to set realistic goals and work at ’em,” he said.

“In the last three or four years, I’m not expecting to get really faster, but I’m trying to just not get any slower, as you might say.”

His desire to push himself hasn't entirely disappeared, either.

Two years ago, Frey returned to Spokane's 12-kilometre Bloomsday race, an event he'd previously run years earlier.

“I surprised myself by winning my age group again,” he said.

But after all these years, one of the biggest changes Frey notices at Melissa’s isn't his finishing time.

It's the people around him.

Many of the friends who once made the annual trip to Banff with him no longer attend, while the race itself has grown.

“I really don’t know that many people anymore,” Frey said. “The crowd has changed, there’s a lot more runners, but it still motivates me to go to the race.”

This year, on Sept. 26, Frey plans to head back to Banff and do what he's been doing every year since 1979.

Run Melissa’s Road Race.

“My new goal is to try and make it to 50,” Frey said.

“Hopefully that my health holds out and I’m able to compete in the 50th year.”