Did he compete at age 70?
Anyone read his book? It seems to be out of print.
Did he compete at age 70?
Anyone read his book? It seems to be out of print.
I have his book somewhere but it doesn't cover his last years. Derek had a stroke sometime in his 70s, can't recall when. He was in his 70s when I stayed at his place and he was in his 70s then, healthy and running well so it must have happened in the last 00s. That interrupted his racing and running. As I recall he'd begun getting back into running eventually but died not too long afterward. I'll look for the book later and see what I can find.
He tops the marathon list at 2:41 for M65-69, but doesn't appear in the M70+.
How old was he when you stayed with him, and what was his daily training pace?
Norm Green was running sub 6 minute pace in his 50's because he didn't know that he wasn't suppose to do that.
Running Times:
" At 62 he ran 2:14.53 for 800, 4:28.00 for 1500, and 34:30 for 10,000. At 65, he ran a mile in 4:56.04, and 10,000 in 34:42.2."
He was in his 70s when we were there. I don't know exactly how into his 70s. We did one run, about an hour and didn't measure the distance. I'd say we were on the down side of 7:00 but I don't know if he was adjusting for me or was running like he usually did.
Nuclear Bowling Ball wrote:
He tops the marathon list at 2:41 for M65-69, but doesn't appear in the M70+.
Derek always worked his races into whatever was going on in his life. When it was winter in NZ and not much to do with his farm he was more likely to go away and race than during the rest of the year when there was more work to do.
When I was there he was healthy and running regularly, at least by his standards. He always had fallow periods when he was more focused on farm and family. He had less to do on the farm by then as his son was doing most of the work but he was still doing a fair amount to help his son. It's been a long time since I was there. I believe he told me he was running in the occasional club race. We didn't really talk about his future plans but I know he had the stroke not too long afterward.