Like most college athletes, Bob Schlau figured his competitive sporting days were finished when he completed his schooling in 1970. For the next 10 years he jogged to stay in shape and played a little tennis, but never competed. Then along came the running boom of the late '70s, and suddenly his athletic career caught a second wind.
Schlau, now 42, has risen to become one of the best masters runners (40 and over) in the nation while also managing a career as a stockbroker in Charleston, S.C. Last year Schlau (Shlow) claimed national road racing championships at three distances - the half-marathon, 30 kilometers and the marathon. The previous year he was the only master's runner to compete in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials and was voted the No. 1 masters runner in the world by Runner's World Magazine.In short, the 5-foot-7, 124-pound Schlau has become a professional athlete in his middle age. He travels the nation, competing on the master's road racing circuit and pulls down a healthy (extra) income for his troubles. On Saturday Schlau's travels will bring him to Salt Lake City to race in The Athletics Congress National Masters 10K Championships, which will be run in conjunction with the annual Salt Lake Classic road race.
Schlau is considered the pre-race favorite. At the moment he ranks No. 2 in the nation in the 40-to-44-year-old age group behind the legendary Bill Rodgers, who won't compete in the race because race organizers balked at his huge appearance fee demands (no wonder his rivals call him Dollar Bill). For his part, Schlau is happy to race for whatever he can pull down in prize money, which reaches well into five figures annually.
All of which isn't bad for a runner who, by his own estimate, ran only "reasonably well in college," but was by no means a star. After graduating from Denison (Ohio) College, Schlau settled in for a comfortable middle age until he was swept up by the running boom.
"At that point I thought I was done with competitive running," he says. For 10 years Schlau ran five miles daily just to stay fit, then along came the running boom. "I entered a couple of races and did well," he recalls. "That got me motivated, and I started training hard again. It took me about four years of serious training before I really raced well. By then I was in my mid-30s."
But it didn't seem to matter much. Schlau was (and is) running as well or better than ever. At the age of 36, he ran a 2:17:16 marathon and qualified for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. At the age of 40, he qualified for the Olympic trials again in '88 with a 2:19:27 marathon. In 1989 he was ranked the top American master's road runner by The Athletics Congress and by the Road Racers of America Club.
To his surprise, Schlau has slowed little over the years. His best masters 5K and 10K times are 14:57 and 30:31. His best pre-masters times are 14:32 and 30:26. "Considering that's 22 years, that's not a lot of slowing down," he says.
Schlau's running, meanwhile, has become more than a middle-aged man's hobby. Since last fall alone, he has raced in Florida, Pittsburgh, Charlotte, Minnesota, New York, California and Boston. He earns "$20,000 to $30,000" a year in prize money, and the Nike shoe company provides equipment and some travel expenses. He recently hired an agent to set up his races because "it got so time consuming." Schlau trains twice daily, rising at 5:30 for his morning run, then running again in the evening after work. In the meantime, he manages a career and a family.
"I've traveled a lot since I turned 40," he says. "You see a lot of the same faces each race. You're usually up against some of the top runners in the world."
The world's top master's runner, by the way, is New Zealand's John Campbell, who last month ran a 2:11 marathon and a 29:08 10K. But Schlau, who has finished second in the last two master's 10K championship races, won't have to worry about Campbell this week. His top rival probably will be Colorado's John Custy, who has the advantage of altitude training. The women's field will be headed by 45-year-old Gabriele Andersen, the No. 3-ranked masters road racer last year, and Laurie Binder. For the chance to win a national championship, they're racing for a total of $6,500 in prize money, with a modest $750 going to the overall winner.
"Most of us ran for years and years and years without anything," says Schlau, perhaps marveling at life's turn in events. "I probably would've been able to run even better if had competed when I was younger. But I have no complaints. I've been real lucky with running. It's been a matter of circumstances. There just wasn't the interest and money in running when I got out of college that there is now."