George Etzweiler dies at 105 after years of inspiring runners, State College community
Local running legend George Etzweiler earlier this week at 105 years old.
Etzweiler, who was known for his “age-deyfing” endurance, died on March 16, just two days after his birthday.
A retired Penn State electrical engineering professor and Navy veteran, Etzweiler didn’t find his love for running until he was 49. But once he did, he never stopped. He ran the Mount Washington Road Race, an all-uphill 7.6 mile run to the summit of the highest peak in the Northeast, more than a dozen times. Many of those times were in his 90s, Runner’s World reported.
The last time he completed the 7.6-mile race was at 98 years old in 2018, in a time of 4 hours, 4 minutes and 44 seconds, according to Runner’s World.
He ran a number of marathons over the years, including the New York City Marathon. Locally, he took part in events including the Paterno Family Beaver Stadium Run and was part of an all-senior relay running team, the Old Men of the Mountains, which participated in the Tussey Mountainback 50-mile relay.
Last summer, at 104 years old, he was supposed to run one leg of the Tussey Mountainback. The idea was that Etzweiler would start the leg and then someone else would finish for him, Jay Maynard, a longtime team member, said.
But Etzweiler had other plans.
“George did the whole 3.4 miles himself. And he’s an electrical engineer, and so he does things the right way. And so for his leg, he would run for 0.7 miles, and then he would sit — they brought a folding chair — and he’d sit in the chair for 240 seconds, and then he’d run point 0.7 miles. He did the whole 3.4 miles,” Maynard said.
An inspiration in the running community and beyond
Mike Casper, race director for the Tussey Mountainback, said he saw Etzweiler after some of the Arts Fest races and after one particular race, he said it would be cool if there was some type of senior team to take on the race as a relay. Etzweiler thought it was a good idea and started gathering a team.
“One of the things he always tried to do was, ‘let’s see what’s the highest average age I can get for our team.’ So he reached into the 80s first and if he didn’t have enough people to fill a team of eight, he reached in the 70s and would see who else is around the local area that can run and, once in a while, he reached in the 60s,” Casper said.
Over the years, nearly 30 members of his group came and went, the CDT previously reported, but Etzweiler remained. The race in 2024 was the 18th consecutive year the group — which wasn’t exclusive to men, despite the name — participated in the race.
Etzweiler also drew headlines when, at 103 years old, he rappelled down Beaver Stadium as part of a local fundraiser. Even so, Sports Illustrated reported in 2023 that he “remained fairly nonchalant about rappelling Beaver Stadium, which was no more amazing, he said, because he’s 103 years old.”
He repeated the feat last year, too.
He’s served as an inspiration for those around him and a reminder to keep going. During a 2024 interview with the CDT, Etzweiler recalled a time on Mount Washington when a runner who chose to retire from the race early ran into him on her way down and stopped to talk with him.
“She didn’t look like she had finished the race and was coming back down. And when she got to us, she turned around and started walking with us,” he said in 2024. “She just couldn’t go any farther, she just couldn’t finish. So she gave up, walked back down and then decided if I was going to finish walking that way, that she would just go on with us.”
Leaving a lasting impact
Etzweiler married the love of his life, Mary, in May 1942. After her death in 2010, running became an even more important part of his routine.
“After Mary died ... I just wanted to go out and start running and never stop — just keep on running up these Mid-State Trails to New York and on across New York into Ontario and all over the pole and around the world. I just wanted to keep running. I seem to feel better when I get out there to run,” Etzweiler told the CDT in 2021.
A 2018 documentary short, “For the Love of Mary,” by filmmakers Kirk Horton and Simon Perkins, tells the story of Etzweiler’s running journey and how the memory of Mary kept him going during a particularly difficult race.
Horton recalled the first time he met Etzweiler. He was in college studying film and was working on a project about senior citizen runners. Most of the runners he came across were friends of teachers or family connections, but they had all heard of a 97-year-old man in State College who ran the Mount Washington Road Race every year.
“I was just like, ‘Oh, I gotta meet this guy, he sounds like a legend.’ And he was, obviously,” Horton said.
He made the long drive from Middlebury, Vermont, to State College and told Etzweiler he would be there around 2 p.m. At 11:30 a.m., Etzweiler called to check in and see how the drive was going.
“We had never met in person. We’d spoken on the phone a couple times. He didn’t know anything about me, but he was just, I think, really looking forward to hanging out and doing a little bit of filming, and just was conscious of somebody doing a long drive and checking in on them to make sure that they were doing OK, which I think is just an amazing little attribute to have,” Horton said.
Horton also directed a short documentary on the “Old Men of The Mountain,” which tells the story of the all-senior running team.
Multiple people talked about Etzweiler’s quick humor and sharp memory. Maynard, his longtime team member, said one of his favorite stories is when he, Etzweiler and his son Larry were on one of the roads in Rothrock State Forest, where the Tussey Mountainback race is held. On one side of the road, there is a steep uphill and on the other side, is a steep downhill. Etzweiler, about 95 at the time, was on the downhill side.
“George was on the edge, right next to the downhill part. George says, ‘you know, if I wobble a little bit and go over this edge, you and Larry will have to come down and get me. You’ll get your clothes all messed up.’ And I was being a smart aleck and I said, ‘George, what makes you think we’ll come down and get you?’ George says, ‘Because I’ve got the car keys,’” Maynard recalled. “It’s just like that all the time. I just really enjoyed being with him.”
Horton said Etzweiler’s memory was still sharp, even in his late 90s and 100s, and he was a genuinely nice person who will leave an impact not just in the running community. Etzweiler was in excellent physical condition and worked out at Ki’netik Fitness for years.
“For George to still have the richness and the active lifestyle that he did at 104 and 105 is just so incredible. I think he was one of those people who just really gets every last drop out of life as possible. And I think it’s a testament to him and to the community that he helped cultivate, that there are so many people who know who he is, and so many people who were rooting for him at those races, but just in life in general,” Horton said.
“I think his impact is obviously so important in the running community, but I think just in the way that he lived his life, he really impacts anybody who comes across him.”
Etzweiler always had a glint in his eye, a smile on his face and a humorous perspective on everything, Casper said.
“I think it’s the youth that he had in his heart that kept him going so many years. And of course, I think he relished the opportunity to go out and run with his friends, to go out and work out at the gym. You know, he had a real dedication to his own health, but also to the team and to staying healthy and enjoying life,” Casper said.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 2:00 PM.
