Though one is pushing 70 and the other 75, two Marine veterans have not quit running for forty years.

In the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM), ‘ground pounders’ are the runners who have raced every year since the marathon’s humble beginnings in 1976. Two thousand racers participated in that first marathon, a far cry from the 30,000 racers who gathered in Washington D.C. from around the globe this year, but there are only two racers who have returned to the MCM track and finished the marathon again and again. Those dedicated ground pounders are Will Brown and Alfred Richmond.

Will Brown, 67, joined the Marine Corps in 1967 and served four years of active duty, including one year in Vietnam. Brown decided to participate in the Marine Corps Marathon “in a moment of insanity,” but he quickly found a more personal meaning in the annual race. The MCM’s finish line is inspired by the iconic photo of servicemen raising the American flag at Iwo Jima. Brown’s father is a WWII veteran who served in Iwo Jima, and his cousin actually posed in the famous photograph.

Brown’s first MCM time was 3:41:21, and the fastest he had ever completed the MCM was in 1977 at 3:14:37.

Alfred Richmond, 74, had just returned from active duty and started working for the Marine Corps Reserves Headquarters when the race was underway. Though he was helping get the MCM off the ground in its very first year, he didn’t decide to participate until another coworker decided to do it also. The fire of competition spurred Richmond to enter, and he hasn’t quit competing since. Completing the MCM is “a personal thing,” Richmond said. “I don’t want to be the one who breaks this streak early.”

Richmond’s first MCM was completed in 4:04:14 and his best time was 3:16:21 in 1979.