At age 64, with 73 marathons under his belt, there’s no stopping Steve Coffman. Aside from full-time teaching, he is training for his 35th consecutive Boston Marathon in April 2012.

Coffman says his love for running started when he was stationed with the Marines in Hawaii. Officially peaking his interest, he ran in the state’s first marathon in 1973, and he has kept up with the habit ever since.

When asked about his regimen, Coffman said he runs six days a week, anywhere from three to 20 miles per day, depending on how close he is to his next marathon.

After Coffman’s service with the Marines, he moved back to his home state of Michigan, where he had previously earned a bachelor’s degree, and earned his master’s degree in adapted physical education from Michigan State University’s College of Education.

Coffman has been using his degree working as an elementary school physical education teacher for special-needs children in Springfield, Va. ever since.

He says, “It’s more rewarding for me, helping special-education students, as a person… I’m totally satisfied with that.”

Most of Coffman’s students are classified as having emotional problems and his co-workers say he’s inspirational.

Aside from running in Boston, Coffman has also ran marathons in Michigan, New York City, Miami, Charlotte, Bermuda and the “original” 26.2 miles from Marathon, Greece  to Athens stadium. He ran his fastest marathon at the 1981 Boston Marathon with a time of 2:34:22.

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Tags: Alumni, Boston Marathon, marathon, physical education, Special education, Steve Coffman