Last year, Bud Wisseman of Chattanooga became the first Tennessee resident to join the Boston Marathon Quarter Century Club, signifying 25 consecutive completions of the most famous 26.2 miles in the world.
Monday he made it 26 in a row — at age 75.
Wisseman finished 26th in his age group and 25,821st overall. His time was 5 hours, 24 minutes, 37 seconds. It was his 53rd marathon overall.
“It was a nasty day,” he said by telephone early Monday. “It was in the 40s and rained essentially the whole way. I wore gloves and a stocking cap for the temperature, and I had one of those disposable rain jackets and wore it the whole way until I got near the finish. I took it off then to make a better picture.”
He never considered quitting, even with one of his great motivations missing.