Bend man runs 60 miles in 60 hours to mark his 60th birthday

(Update: Adding video)

 BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Regan McMorris did not want to do something basic for a milestone birthday, like hold a party -- or catch his breath.

He decided instead to run 60 miles in 60 hours to mark his 60th birthday.

McMorris was a runner at West Albany High School and Willamette University, and he currently leads a weekly run with the Central Oregon Running Klub.

“I was thinking about, what can I do to celebrate?" McMorris said. "Some people have a big party, some people like to go traveling somewhere. But I decided to run 60 miles in 60 hours for my 60th birthday.”

When thinking of how to celebrate his 60th birthday, he had the idea to incorporate his longtime passion.

It took his family some time to make sense of the plan.

“Well first they said like, ‘We're going to go to Palm Springs for your birthday!’ And I said, 'No, don’t you remember? I’ve been planning this for like a year, to run the 60, 60, 60,” McMorris said. “So then my daughters really got into it, they really encouraged me -- and there we were.”

McMorris set off on his personal marathon, and decided to include runs in the areas which meant a lot to him.

McMorris ran 10 routes across Albany, Salem, Corvallis, and Bend to complete this “60x60x60” challenge between March 17-19 in 11 hours and 10 minutes.

This is the longest running event McMorris has ever done, though he frequently participates in local races such as the Bend 10K and Half Marathon, the Bigfoot 10K and the Cascade Lakes Relay. 

McMorris said there’s plenty of great athletes in Bend who have tackled more impressive feats, but to come up with an idea and see it through, is enough to make 60 his best year yet.

“It was really great to see this come all together, and the fact that I could actually physically do it,” McMorris said. 

You can find McMorris every Thursday night leading his club on a run.