In a community plentiful with impressive athletes, one cheerful Routt County octogenarian could inspire just about anyone to keep moving.

Tom Coleman completed his 271st full marathon in November, with no plans to stop the long races. His most recent race was the New York City Marathon, which he completed for the 36th time. The tall, lean senior has completed a marathon of 26.2 miles in each of the 50 U.S. states, and he completed a race series in his early 60s of five marathons in five days in five different states.

A wall of medals hanging in his small basement office verifies his completion of hundreds of marathons, including in such overseas locations as Munich, Sydney, London, Spain and Iceland. He also has climbed more than 200 mountains such as Kilimanjaro, Rainier, Hood and half the fourteeners in Colorado.

On his 80th birthday, Coleman, his daughter Tamara Lutz and son Brad Coleman, ran a race together in New Jersey, where the family formerly lived, after which his wife surprised him with a large celebration.

Coleman pointed out the back door at a snowy field behind his Heritage Park neighborhood home where he cross-country skis at least 4 miles every day. In the warmer months, Coleman bikes outdoors. The morning before a journalist interview, Coleman was riding his stationary recumbent bike in the garage, while his wife of 53 years, Jaynie, attended an exercise class at Old Town Hot Springs. The couple also exercises in the pools at Old Town Hot Springs to stay limber.

Coleman’s advice to others is “stay active!” Although he described his pace as “I sort of plod along” — and notes that he has earned a few “caboose medals” as the last finisher in marathons over the last two years — he stays consistently active.

“The number one key to longevity is movement,” said Coleman, a retired psychologist with a doctorate in education. “Whatever you can do, whatever your situation is, keep moving.”

Coleman has been an inspiration to his two athletic children and his grandchildren. He plans to run the Steamboat Springs Half Marathon in 2026 with his grandson, Emmitt Lutz, who attends Steamboat Springs Middle School.

“One hundred percent he inspires the whole family,” said Tamara Lutz, a Steamboat Springs resident. “At 83, there is not a single day that he can sit still. I think that’s because he’s been so consistent about moving his whole life.”

Coleman believes it is a miracle that he became a runner, because at age 6, a tumor the size of a golf ball was removed from his right knee. He said he stayed in the hospital for two months, and doctors thought he would never run again and could be in excruciating pain for life.

When Coleman went to school in pain on crutches and was bullied and tripped, he decided to fight back and started slowly building up his strength and stamina by riding a bike, at first only for 100 yards. He also started shooting baskets.

“He definitely had a rough childhood, that’s for sure,” Lutz said. “He had to prove them wrong.”

By high school, Coleman participated on the track and basketball teams, and he played sports in college. Later, he ran 10K races until he switched to marathons at age 40. When he is running a marathon, the feeling he has is “gratefulness.”

“Just the simple fact that I am upright — I know what it’s like to be bedridden and crippled,” he said.

In his professional career, Coleman taught college and served as a psychologist in private practice, jails and mental hospitals. The family had a vacation home in Silverton for decades, and for his 70^th birthday, Coleman and his daughter celebrated, of course, by running a marathon in San Juan County.

“He’s always been a fun guy,” Lutz said. “My whole life growing up he’s just been positive, loving and had a strong faith. He is the sweetest man we know. God just kept him going.”

These days, Coleman may run a half marathon instead of a full, or finish a full marathon walking if needed, but he lists multiple races he plans to complete in 2026. If injuries do not get in his way, Coleman hopes to finish 300 marathons.