Over 50's club

323 watchers

Lip Gloss May 2018 9:01pm, 15 May 2018 29,459 posts	0 Lip Gloss I did actually get a voucher (£10) through the post a couple of years ago as I was 3rd in my age category in a 10k.. I'm up against 4 real fasties in my age category at my local parkrun so I'm goosed when they all run the same week.
um May 2018 9:20pm, 15 May 2018 243 posts	0 um I was once once 4th male finisher in a local race - but 3rd vet, with only 2 vets prizes. Very disappointed when I stayed as third vet, rather than pick up 2nd or 3rd male prize which went to the guys behind me. I'd have been happier if the guys ahead of me got both - or had the choice which one to take.
Columba May 2018 9:23pm, 15 May 2018 15,579 posts	0 Columba I once won a bottle of wine for being 1st in age cat, even though there were no others in my age cat. Middle Son (him wot is a personal trainer) once checked up on the family's WAVAs, and told me that in WAVA terms I am faster than any of them except for him.
Sharkie May 2018 10:16pm, 15 May 2018 13,298 posts	0 Sharkie I remember when we first met you, Columba, agreeing with Ceal what a lovely running style you had.
jb62 May 2018 8:44am, 16 May 2018 10 posts	0 jb62 Reading the posts on this and other similar 'mature runners' threads, I notice how many of us came to running relatively late in life. I was in my early 30s so hardly a child prodigy! But it occurs: what happened to all those really quick at school? Did they carry on or simply peak too early? Did they succumb to injury? Were you maybe one of them and just kept going? I know of one fellow runner (now about 59) who broke Steve Ovett's under 13 record for the area. He's now about as good, or as bad, as me, who at the same time was breaking the under 13 area record for eating wine gums. And whatever happened to that Ovett bloke anyway? (Mike Gratton- winner of an early London marathon still runs in events and I thnikn clocked about 50 mins for a 10k last year.)
Flatlander May 2018 11:25am, 16 May 2018 1,126 posts	0 Flatlander I kept going and I'm still going after nearly 60 years of continually running (no long breaks) :-). I can't claim I was "really" quick though ;-).
Velociraptor May 2018 11:28am, 16 May 2018 38,263 posts	0 Velociraptor Talent persists, but in general the people setting athletics records in the veteran classes will not be the child prodigies, who will have passed their peak by then. Though I'm sure there are exceptions. I was a late starter - 37 - and feel like an old stager now because it's been almost 17 years since I took up running.
hillstrider May 2018 12:12pm, 16 May 2018 5,003 posts	0 hillstrider JB, my previous post to you split over two pages. No I didn't do the Hayling 10 miles, and I haven't raced since last June when I incurred my knee injury, a menisci tear. I am gradually increasing my running mileage, and also attending spinning classes twice a week, which helps me maintain my fitness. My first race will be the Race for Men, which is in aid of Prostate Cancer, in June. It is a 10k multi terrain race. I started running in my mid 30's and ran 6 marathons. I didn't join a running club until I was 40, when I started serious training, including twice a week track sessions. I've never set any veteran records, but have consistently been in the top 3 in the various veteran categories. I do sometimes wonder whether if I had started serious running at an earlier age, I would still be running at the age of 72.
Canute May 2018 1:25pm, 16 May 2018 1,883 posts	0 Canute In some instances talent persists but it is rare for anyone to maintain a place near the top of the rankings for more than 10-15 years. This is probably due to two factors: 1) sustained heavy training almost certainly creates residual leg muscle damage; 2) the genetic determinants of top athletic performance appear to have only a small overlap with the genes for longevity. In contrast, medium levels of athletic performance probably are associated with longevity. I occasionally muse on a comparison between myself and Ed Whitlock. I did not know him in his younger days: he was 14 years older and we lived on opposite sides of the globe. However we both achieved moderately impressive performances as schoolboy athletes. By his mid-forties, Ed was winning veteran world championships at 1500m, while I was more dedicated to mountaineering than running. Ed had not specially trained for the marathon at that stage. His life-time best marathon was much slower than mine. However, at age 72 (my current age) he ran a marathon in 2:52. I have not done any regular distance training for several years, and at present if I ran a marathon I would only be aiming to finish, with no regard to time. Even if I did some systematic training, I would probably set a target no faster than 3:52, and even that would be a quite ambitious. Ed had a family history of longevity, and until recently appeared well on course to remain fit into old age. He holds the majority of the age-group world records from 1500m to marathon in the age range 70-85. However, when he set the marathon world record for an 85 year old last year, he was less impressive than usual. Sadly he died of prostate cancer shortly afterwards. I am presently deteriorating physically quite rapidly. On present form, I will be quite content if I merely remain fit enough to potter up and down Lakeland fells at age 80. Weighing up all of the evidence, I suspect that Ed and I were endowed with similar potential for life-time best performances as distance runners, but there is simply no comparison between his impressive longevity up to age 85 and my decline into old age in my early 70’s. My attempts to emulate Ed's training a few years ago demonstrate that it is not merely a matter of training
Velociraptor May 2018 1:29pm, 16 May 2018 38,266 posts	0 Velociraptor It's for reasons that Canute outlines that I feel uncomfortable about exhortations to be "inspired" by octogenarian athletes or to regard them as evidence of "no excuses". I admire such individuals, I aspire to be like them, and I accept that whether or not it happens will be dependent on factors beyond my control.