82-year-old Sen. Grassley celebrates birthday with a six-mile run

Sen. Chuck Grassley is running for re-election in 2016, and it looks like he's getting faster.

He celebrated his 82nd birthday on Thursday by running a little over six miles in one hour and 23 minutes. That's about a minute quicker than last year.

The Iowa Republican lawmaker, who is the second-oldest member of the U.S. Senate, is a regular jogger. But for the last three years he has celebrated  his birthday with a "Home to Dome" run from his townhouse in Arlington, Va., to the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

Grassley showed proof of his latest trek on Thursday by posting a photo on Instagram with a Garmin device showing his time of 1 hour and 23 minutes for a run of 6.14 miles. His run last year along the same route took one hour and 24 minutes.

Grassley, who was born Sept. 17, 1933, is surpassed in age in the Senate only by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., who was born on June 22, 1933.

Petroski reports for The Des Moines Register.