National Senior Games Champion Sprinter Will Beat You In A Race

Stephen Robbins is one of the fastest senior citizens in the world. 

Robbins, 70, a Cleveland Heights resident, won gold medals in the 100 meter and 200 meter sprints at the 2013 National Senior Games. He won the 100 with a time of 13.09, defeating the silver medalist by a full second. He won the 200 by clocking a time of 27.33.

While this was Robbins' first Senior Games, he has been sprinting competitively for the last 20 years, and has journeyed all over the globe to race and defeat the fastest men in the world.

In 2008, at the age of 65, Robbins won the world record in both the 100 meter and 200 meter dashes. Those wins allowed him to declare himself, jokingly, "the world's fastest Medicare recipient."

Robbins, who has called Cleveland Heights home for the last five years, said he was a competitive sprinter in high school and college but then got away from the sport during his professional career as a professor at San Diego State University. 

But then after he retired, he began running again and at 50, ran in his first Masters Track and Field World Championship.

Robbins takes his sport very seriously. He trains on the track three times a week and uses his off days to lift weights. As he has gotten older, he has to listen closely to his body to try to prevent injuries.

He says he plans to run as long as his health will allow him. He jokes its one of the few things he's good at.

"I can run fast for 30 seconds, and I can write," Robbins said. "That’s about it. And working out as hard as I do allows me to get away with eating poorly and other sins."

Next up for Robbins is the Masters World Championship in Brazil in October. He started his training for that event Monday morning.