ROCKFORD, Mich. (WOOD) — Dathan Ritzenhein of Rockford has already competed in three Olympics. He’d like to add one more to his resume.
But at 37, he’ll be considered the old man at the Olympic marathon trials in Atlanta Saturday.
“I think I’m addicted a little bit, to tell you the truth,” he said when asked why he was still running. “I think I know there’s no going back, either. I’m not fooling myself into a comeback. I don’t want to let go, you know. But at the same time, I know the end is getting close.”
An elite runner since he won the Foot Locker cross country nationals in high school, Ritzenhein estimates that he has covered nearly 85,000 miles. To put that in perspective, a trip around the world is about 24,900 miles.
He ran in the Olympics in Athens (2004), Beijing (2008) and London (2012), but he missed out on the Rio Games in 2016.
“There’s just something about the fact it happens every four years, it’s just still is like the No. 1 thing that gets you out of bed in the morning, is thinking about that four years. Every four years is that Olympic final and I think that you just know you don’t have many opportunities to do that,” he said.
(L-R) Matt Tegenkamp and Dathan Ritzenhein compete in the men’s 10,000 meter final during Day One of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 22, 2012 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) 
Dathan Ritzenhein competes in the men’s 10,000 meter final during Day One of the 2012 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Team Trials at Hayward Field on June 22, 2012 in Eugene, Oregon. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) 
Mohamed Farah of Great Britain celebrates winning the gold medal in Men’s 10,000m Final with Dathan Ritzenhein of the United States on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Olympic Stadium on August 4, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images) 
Galen Rupp and Dathan Ritzenhein shake hands after finishing first and second in the Men’s 5000 Meter on day one of the 2013 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Drake Stadium on June 20, 2013 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) 
Mo Farah of Great Britain (L) and Dathan Ritzenhein of the United States compete in the Men’s 10000 metres final during Day One of the 14th IAAF World Athletics Championships Moscow 2013 at Luzhniki Stadium on August 10, 2013 in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images) 
Dathan Ritzenhein of the United States crosses the finish line during the 119th Boston Marathon on April 20, 2015 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images) 
(L-R) Jeffery Eggleston, Luke Puskedra, Dathan Ritzenhein and Meb Keflezighi at the start of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials Marathon on February 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images) 
U.S. Dathan Ritzenhein (L) and Meb Keflezighi at the start of the Olympic Team Trials Marathon on February 13, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images) 
Britain’s Mo Farah (2nd R) poses for a photograph with runner-up, US runner Dathan Ritzenhein (L) and third place runner, Kenya’s Emmanuel Bett after the men’s elite race in the Great North Run half-marathon in South Shields, north east England on September 11, 2016. The Great North Run is Britain’s largest running event with more than 50,000 participants set to cover the 13.1 miles from Newcastle to South Shields. (LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)
So Ritzenhein put off retirement and kept putting miles on his legs, hoping for one more shot. He has been training in Florida, away from his family in West Michigan, for the past month. At his age, he needs every advantage he can get. Because the trials are in Atlanta, he needs to train in warmer weather.
But the biggest thing he’ll need is his health. If he has that on race day, he is confident he can finish among the top three men to earn a berth on Team USA and the chance race under the rings one last time.
“Only three people make it. Sometimes it’s cutthroat. In 2012, I was fourth in the trials at the marathon. They don’t give a spot to fourth place. It was only eight seconds in the marathon,” he said. “You have to perform on that day and you have to be ready to go. So everything matters that day. So you either celebrate and make your plans for Tokyo, or you think about what’s next.”
The 2020 Games in Tokyo begin July 24 and run through Aug. 9.
