Tribute to 94 year old marathoner Ernie Van Leeuwen

[pabanil]

Age is just a number. The only thing that stop you is your mind! Keep on running!

[east2525]

I worked for Ernie in 1953 at his Magnetic Recorders Co. Lost track of him for the last 55 years and happy to have found this posting.

[mrspeel7]

@grenouil1970 Forgive my attempt at French: Votre coeur est bon!

[mrspeel7]

Oh my goodness! I just discovered this vid while seeking L.A. Marathon 2011 vids.

I loved Ernie; I ran with him, he was the quintessential gentleman. I was lucky to have known him.

As a Roadrunner, I joined Ernie on his birthday run.

At the next L.A. Marathon, so many of us wore "94" on our caps, our arms - we even wore bibs on our backs which read, "We (heart) Ernie."

It was a pleasure to talk about Ernie, whenever fellow runners asked about the bib.

I still sometimes see "94" on caps today...

[kyler187]

Thats incredible.

[Thethirdeye84]

This is amazing, I will strive to become a runner myself, he is right, it feels great to run, a child of the "lazy generation" I think its about time I started doing something like this myself.

[wojtek0000]

"save the planet"? wtf did she say?

[josielpontocom]

I'm very sorry for not having known him personally!

[pegmorris]

This is the best man I've ever known. I worked for him in the late 70's and early eighties.. He was an inspreation.. Love u Earnie Peg

[jamesrunsalot]

AMAZING 94 years old, very inspirational Im in 8th grade and i cant run a marathon and this guy can. absolutely amazing, great example.

[philipms]

For more info on Ernie and a complete bio see journeytomylamarathon dot com

[JakeZoltar]

Thank you for posting this.

I worked for Ernie at Advanced video with his daughter Kathy back in the late 1980's (just the 3 of us). Ernie touched my spirit and I never forgot the inspiration he gave me to be a better person. You can tell just by the fact that I am writing this that 20 years later I am still thinking about him.

[KatjVL]

We love you Honey and we'll miss you terribly. You truly are an inspiration to all!!

Love, your grandchildren

[mesopotamia1216]

thank you for the inspiration ernie, we will miss you at the park. give god a big hug for me.

[socruelu2]

This hits home to me as I've trained with the LA roadrunners for a couple of years. I always looked forward to greeting Ernie on our training runs. He was an inspiration for all of us.

[tmhollins]

What a touching video!