I successfully logged my 50th career sub 3 hour marathon at the NYC Marathon on Nov 4 at current age 50. My first Sub 3 came in 1978 at age 21 and I have been able to keep this up in each decade since; 80s, 90s and 00s. Just curious if there are others out there who have done this or that might have similar marathoning streaks? I certainly do not consider myself fast or anything special, just consistant and not afraid of some good old fashioned hard work.
Name or it didn't happen
here's a link to the list:
http://mm.littlemarathon.com/MyMarathons.asp?ManiacId=59
I was 720th at NYC, 26th age 50-54
here's the list showing all 50 sub 3s: fastest to slowest
Rank / Time / Event / Date chip times *
1. 2:39:10 Sugarloaf Marathon 8/26/84
2. 2:39:20 New York City Marathon 10/25/81
3. 2:39:57 Sugarloaf Marathon 8/25/85
4. 2:40:04 Boston Marathon 4/18/88
5. 2:40:47 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/10/90
6. 2:42:08 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/19/91
7. 2:42:47 Casco Bay Marathon 10/04/92
8. 2:42:52 New York City Marathon 10/26/88
9. 2:44:36 New York City Marathon 11/04/89
10. 2:44:59 Rhode Island Marathon 11/01/92
11. 2:46:21 New York City Marathon 10/26/82
12. 2:46:57 Boston Marathon 4/15/91
13. 2:47:18 Boston Peace Marathon 11/23/86
14. 2:47:26 Sarasota Marathon 03/05/06*
15. 2:47:34 Iceberg Marathon 3/01/81
16. 2:47:55 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/17/92
17. 2:48:05 Philadelphia Marathon 11/19/06*
18. 2:48:10 New York City Marathon 10/26/80
19. 2:49:11 Boston Marathon 4/21/86
20. 2:52:13 Sarasota Marathon 3/4/07*
21. 2:52:21 Sugarloaf Marathon 8/24/86
22. 2:52:41 Paul Bunyan Marathon 7/15/78
23. 2:53:38 Boston Marathon 4/20/81
24. 2:53:42 Los Angeles Marathon 3/19/06*
25. 2:53:50 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/19/02
26. 2:54:18 Las Vegas Marathon 1/25/04*
27. 2:54:20 Boston Marathon 4/17/06*
28. 2:54:23 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/15/05
29. 2:54:36 Boston Marathon 4/19/93
30. 2:54:50 Pacific Shoreline Marathon 2/01/04*
31. 2:55:14 Maine Marathon 10/7/07*
32. 2:55:16 Boston Marathon 4/16/07*
33. 2:55:21 New York City Marathon 11/02/03*
34. 2:55:37 Maine Marathon 10/01/06*
35. 2:55:46 Hyannis Marathon 2/23/03*
36. 2:55:54 Boston Marathon 4/20/87
37. 2:55:57 New York Marathon 11/3/02*
38. 2:56:04 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/20/07
39. 2:56:17 Sugarloaf Marathon 05/21/06
40. 2:57:04 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/18/03
41. 2:57:21 Boston Marathon 4/18/05*
42. 2:57:39 Johnny Miles Marathon 6/19/05*
43. 2:58:09 Boston Marathon 4/20/92
44. 2:58:18 New York City Marathon 11/05/06
45. 2:58:47 New York City Marathon 11/04/07*
46. 2:58:51 Sugarloaf Marathon 5/16/04
47. 2:59:08 Quebec City Marathon 8/26/07*
48. 2:59:40 Sugarloaf Marathon 8/28/83
49. 2:59:45 Boston Marathon 4/15/02*
50. 2:59:46 Baystate Marathon 10/15/95
Awesome! Didn't mean to bust your b#lls it's just everyone talks so much bullsh#t on here.
That is an amazing streak....have you ever had a bad one in the mix?
Also, as a guy in his 30's who has been relatively injury free - I'd love to still be cracking 3 @ 50...what do you attribute the longevity to?
That's pretty impressive. I don't think there are going to be many other people out there that have done this. That's a lot of marathons in the past two years.
nevermind my question about the slower races - just checked the link.
So would you mind sharing how you have been training for the past 30 years?
Keep it up. You should be proud Mainer Gary, and with all that mileage on those legs.
no worries. Yes I have had a bad marathon, actually I've recorded 50 sub 3s but have run 67 total marathons. In the last one (NYC) I felt like crap in the first mile, and decided right then and there I'd not think beyond the place I was in and just put my head down and run and whatever happened would happen. Longevity? I think it may help that I do not train with any kind of schedule or plan I just focus on running as little or as far as I feel like going and any given day, sometimes a 6 mile run will turn into 20 miler and a 20 into a 6 and so forth.
I do not believe my body or for that matter my running have anything to do with a 7 day week and certainly don't lock myself into doing things because it may be a certain day; Wed etc. I also don't do planned speedwork I just run fast when I feel like running fast other than that I just run how I feel and keep it fun. It's amazing to me when I hear about people counting every mile, to me what does it matter how little or far you run during the week, what counts to me is only how you perform on race day.
Cheers
g
You can read more about me here:
scroll down below the YouTube thing
mileage...laugh! the odometer definitely has rolled over. yes indeed Maine is a good place to live and run.
Awesome -- congratulations! What an accomplishment.
I like your theory on training. I think many Americans -- myself included -- are too regimented with intervals, times, distances, minutes. I read a runner's quote book where Henry Rono (when asked in college) how far he routinely ran. He said he listened to his body and if he didn't feel good one day, he'd turn around and go home. If he felt good, he'd keep going ... or something like that.
I'm still into minutes, hours, and miles, unfortunately. It's hard to break the American habit of charting everything, but I really like your training theory. Congrats again.
Immpressive....I am 56, ran the 79 NYC in 2:59, had some sub 2:50's back then, but now struggle to run 3:45. I am hoping for a 3:29 at Boston. Lots of base training the next few months, then add some faster stuff. I also live in NE (NH) and do own a treadmill ;-)
Congrats on the 50th sub 3!
Congrats on a great accomplishment. It looks like you and I finished close together at NY. I ran 2:58:34 for my 17th sub 3:00 marathon. I'm 40 years old and that was my 21st marathon. My pr is 2:21 but that was many years ago. I hope I do all the right things to get myself to 50 sub 3's some day. It's crossed my mind to try and shoot for a sub 3 in every state. I've completed 7 so far. Thanks for sharing your training philosophy also.
Regards - Tom
fantastic. great streak. it sounds like you do a lot of running for internal, rather than "external" reasons. stay healthy and continue to enjoy.
islandmaineiac wrote:
I successfully logged my 50th career sub 3 hour marathon at the NYC Marathon on Nov 4 at current age 50. My first Sub 3 came in 1978 at age 21 and I have been able to keep this up in each decade since; 80s, 90s and 00s. Just curious if there are others out there who have done this or that might have similar marathoning streaks? I certainly do not consider myself fast or anything special, just consistant and not afraid of some good old fashioned hard work.
Just curious how many marathons you have run OVER 3 hours, and how many you DNFed in?
Please be honest.
Hi Gary,
I've been watching your results from afar. Truly great stuff!
I recall the years I was nipping at your heels at Sugarloaf, Boston, and NYC. I still run daily but race no more.
Keep it up!!
Dave
Boston, MA
congratulations!!
similar goals for me.
1st sub-3 in the 1980's when i was 24 (1983)
got one in my 30's in the 1990's
got 4 in my 40's in the 2000's
going for it 2 days after my 50th b-day on 11/15/08 in Richmond
i'll probably try to hang on and get one in the 2010's
wd
Damn. I hope to log 50 marathons by the time I'm 50 (I got a late start). Sub 3 hour marathons don't enter into the picture. You rock.
islandmaineiac wrote:
no worries. Yes I have had a bad marathon, actually I've recorded 50 sub 3s but have run 67 total marathons. In the last one (NYC) I felt like crap in the first mile, and decided right then and there I'd not think beyond the place I was in and just put my head down and run and whatever happened would happen. Longevity? I think it may help that I do not train with any kind of schedule or plan I just focus on running as little or as far as I feel like going and any given day, sometimes a 6 mile run will turn into 20 miler and a 20 into a 6 and so forth.
I do not believe my body or for that matter my running have anything to do with a 7 day week and certainly don't lock myself into doing things because it may be a certain day; Wed etc. I also don't do planned speedwork I just run fast when I feel like running fast other than that I just run how I feel and keep it fun. It's amazing to me when I hear about people counting every mile, to me what does it matter how little or far you run during the week, what counts to me is only how you perform on race day.
Sorry, but I'm not ready to jump on the bandwagon. Everything you posted above shows that you lack the discipline to follow a set schedule and that like most "marathon maniacs" you try to impress others with volumn over quality. Maybe you would have 30 under 2:50 if you trained with more focus. In the end "counting every mile" does matter and "how little or how far you run during the week" usually does very much affect "how you perform on race day".
desert rodent wrote:
Just curious how many marathons you have run OVER 3 hours, and how many you DNFed in?
Please be honest.
I think he already answered this. 67 minus 50 = 17 marathons over 3:00
islandmaineiac wrote:
Yes I have had a bad marathon, actually I've recorded 50 sub 3s but have run 67 total marathons