Press and Media Center

A Look into Perfection with Don Morrison

Don Morrison keeps getting better – and wiser – with age.

Morrison, 62, won his fifth consecutive XTERRA Atlantic Region Championship this year. He prevailed in the men’s 60-64 age division, and he did it in style, winning his age group at all seven of the races in the Atlantic Region.

“I set out this season with a goal to try and go undefeated, so I tried to race smart at each event,” said Morrison, who resides in West Brandywine, Pa. “I did not to try to race too many younger age group racers this year. I did go after age group wins and once I knew I was leading my age group in a race I paced myself to make sure I finished with no problems.  As you get older you get a lot smarter about racing.”

Morrison’s accomplishment becomes even more impressive when considering his busy schedule. He owns the Chester County Running Store, and also runs the website www.TrailRunnerSports.com. And when he’s not racing on the weekends, he might be directing a running race.

“My training schedule is like most people,” he said. “I work full-time in retail so I work a lot of hours. Most of my training is early mornings starting at about 6 a.m., when I will either bike or run or both, then off to work.”

It helps, though, that Morrison’s farmhouse has a state park in the backyard. “I can just mountain bike out my back door,” he said. “It also offers a great area for trail running, plus lots of great road riding.”

As great as his dedication is to XTERRA, Morrison’s priority is his business. Despite his undefeated season in the Atlantic Region, he will have to skip trips to the XTERRA USA Championship in Utah and the XTERRA World Championship in Hawaii because those events take place at “a busy time” in the retail business.

“My motivation is to always keep it fun,” he said of his racing schedule. “I also mix it up a lot by also racing road triathlons, duathlons, road running races and trail runs. The same old thing can get old for me these days.”