Garth Barfoot, 87, is the oldest runner in the New York City Marathon

Garth Barfoot’s training regimen was fairly simple: running to his favorite coffee shop and back home every day.

“It’s quite a distance from the retirement home,” Barfoot said.

The 87-year-old New Zealander, who lives in a suburb of Auckland, is the oldest participant in this year’s marathon. About 60 other registered runners are at least 80 years old, according to the New York Road Runners Club.

After just under 3 hours, he approached mile 8 at an average pace of 22 minutes, 27 seconds per mile.

This won’t be Barfoot’s first marathon – he says he’s run dozens of others, including last year’s London Marathon, which he completed in 8 hours, 17 minutes and 19 seconds – but it is his first marathon in New York.

“I’m getting worn down by the hour,” he said in an interview, noting a series of health problems in recent years, including a heart valve transplant and three hip replacements. “So I have to hurry up and do this race before it’s too late.”

Barfoot didn’t really start running until he was in his 50s, inspired by his wife Judy.

These days, however, she isn’t always supportive of his training regimen, he says.

“Do you have to run every day, Garth?” Barfoot said, his wife said, adding, “You don’t have to – this is a retirement home.”

He is the only marathoner living in his retirement home, but the routine lifestyle of living there makes training easy, he said.

His running group connects him with younger people, and his runs allow him to spend time outdoors.

“The ambient noise of old people talking loudly to each other is so much,” Barfoot said.

However, he has felt a lot of support from his retirement community ahead of the marathon.

“They’re kind of proud of me,” Barfoot said. “I think they think I’m a good advertisement for retirement homes.”

He has one clear goal for Sunday’s race: “I’m looking forward to not falling over.”