Last month, Doug Whitney of Peterborough became a member of the Six Star Finishers Hall of Fame when he completed the London Marathon, the last of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

Whitney first began running in 1998, and he has run 13 marathons. Of those, Boston, New York City, Chicago, Berlin, Tokyo and London are the six largest in the world and comprise the Six Star Finisher Marathon Majors. The races have sent Whitney all over the world, running through cities and neighborhoods he had never explored.

Whitney’s typical day begins at 6 a.m. with a coffee in one hand and appraisal documents in the other. From there, he’s either stationed at his desk or takes off to visit various residential properties around New Hampshire and Vermont. Either way, he’s always tuned into the radio show “Greg & The Morning Buzz” and has gym or running clothes in the back seat of his car.

Midday, Whitney puts work aside and goes running. Afterwards, he’s back at work in his office. 

When asked about his self-discipline, Whitney said, “Fundamentally, I’m highly motivated by the fact that my family history is so short. Having lost family members at young ages reminds me to stay on top of my health”

Whitney, 63, is the oldest male in his family bloodline. His father who established, Whitney Associates in 1978, died the age of 47.

Regarding his experience in the running community, Whitney relayed on a line he heard a woman say on the subway while in Tokyo, “We’re probably kind of an anxious group.” His first marathon was in Manchester in 2015, and during the New York City Marathon in 2018, he learned about the Abbott World Marathon Majors.

“You have a lot of time before starting the race so you get to talk with people,” he said.

At first, Whitney thought it sounded like an unrealistic challenge, but he still found himself investigating and learning more about it. In 2020, he ran in Chicago. In 2022, he ran Boston and Berlin, and he ran Tokyo in March. He ran in London on April 23, just five days after completing the Boston Marathon for the second time.

“It was a wonderful feeling,” he said of completing all six races. “At the beginning of the race in London, I was pretty emotional and it took me by surprise. When I crossed the line I thought, ‘This is really happening.’” 

Whitney regards Japan as one of the most-rewarding places he has visited.

“Seeing the cities and their different environmental efforts was quite eye-opening. Tokyo was so clean and they treated one another with a lot of respect,” he said. “You go down the street and you don’t hear honking horns. It’s quiet. There isn’t a cigarette butt or a piece of trash on the street.”

Whitney said each city has its own personality.

“I think we all know that, but seeing the characters of a city in person is a great learning experience,” he said.

The majority of the training for Whitney’s races happened in Peterborough and in the surrounding towns, weathering the snow, rain, wind and heat of New England seasons. If he’s setting out on a new route, he has already tracked its mileage with his car’s odometer. Whitney doesn’t run with his cell phone or earbuds; he simply tunes into nature and runs among the deer, birds and rabbits.

“It’s really enjoyable, despite the fact that some days you’re running up Temple Mountain and can barely breathe,” Whitney said. “I enjoy running without music because it gives me a chance to think. I think through my life while running and it helps me process things.”

In his youth, Whitney played baseball and later coached local teams of all ages. For him, running is an anxiety-reliever, endorphin-charger and a form of preventive care. At 40, he was diagnosed with a heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which affects the heart’s ability to properly pump and circulate blood. Staying in prime cardiovascular shape is the only method to slow down the thickening of his heart’s chamber.

Whitney is a proponent of exercise for everybody.

“Movement is good for you,” he said.

When asked what’s next, Whitney responded, “I’m doing another. I don’t know if it’ll be this year or not. It’s largely because London was my 13th and I’m not going to end on 13. I have to do 14.”

When he does, his grandchildren will send him their videos of support and Christy, his wife, will be on the sidelines cheering him on as he runs to the sounds of a new city. 

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