Confirmed: Reyes Estevez's 2:16:26 is fastest ever by a 48 year old

Spain was really strong in the 90s:

Cacho, Estevez, Viciosa, Diaz, Antón, Fiz

When I say "younger", I really mean someone that has the superior power generation and elastic recoil capability of the critical musculotendinous structures. As you (Ghost1) noted above, older runners can foster these characteristics with strength, stability, and plymetric exercises. Some older runners are genetically or physiologically "younger" than others as well, for a variety of possible reasons, but the decline occurs to everyone, regardless.

It's a big debate as to who benefits more from super shoes, whether elite or ordinary runners, and the jury is still out with arguments on both sides making sense.

One thing is certain and that is that super shoes allow one to train and race more and recover better from races with less micro muscle damage in the legs and that is without a doubt a big benefit for masters runners who often cannot recover from racing like they did during their younger years.

With regard to the Kenyan runners running 2:09:00 and 2:10:00 at ages 47 and 48, I'm not absolutely convinced about that because establishing accurate birth dates in Kenya is basically an impossible task as the birthday dates on paper dispensed by the authorities or the local authorities who dispense the birth dates can be "bought" for as little as several hundred shillings to change relevant dates to fictitious ones.

The irony is that in the past older Kenyans wished to become younger to be able to raise as juniors but now adult Kenyans in the normal adult age range from 20 to 30 which to become masters or veteran athletes in order to win money.

Just a few days ago I assisted a Kenyan to be able to race in China, visa expenses, travel expenses from Kericho to Nairobi , and his stated age on paper is 26 years old but he looks at least 10 to 15 years older so I'm not sure what all of that is about and where he stands.

He raced a marathon and when I asked him via What's App how he did, he told me he ran 2:17 for sixth place but a few days later the results appeared on the World Athletics website and I found out he ran 2:22. On being questioned as to why he told me he had ran 2:17 he told me that in the race he did not wear a watch. Needless to say, I was disappointed at this obfuscation. Especially since when training, in Kericho, he always wears a watch.

At the end of the day, these middle of the road runners are just trying to earn some money for their families. I can understand them. None of these guys run for fun. They also prefer to watch Premier League soccer from Great Britain compared with watching athletics on TV.

Some studies on super shoe performance benefits for recreational runners:

•Subjects averaged only 0.9 - 1.4% improvement in RE,
Nielson, 2022 study
•Almost one-third of the subjects had worse RE in the VF than the control shoe, Dominy
& Joubert, 2022 study
•Recreational runners likely get better race performance improvements relative to RE improvements, Kipp et al. 2019 study

But these are not an age vs. running economy studies. It would be nice for that to be factored into the analysis. Also, it would be good to know from any of these types of studies some other parameters of the participants such as if they do any strength and plyometric training, and their individual baseline data for the following:

•stride length
•flight time
•vertical displacement
•ground contact time
•peak vertical
ground reaction forces magnitude and timing
•cadence

And see how these match up with their running economy gains (or losses).

dope

Reyes Estevez training details.

Every day is very similar. Two days a week I do changes of pace, working a lot on fartleks, and one day a week I do a long run, which is longer or shorter depending on the objective I have in the near future. What I do every day of the week is between an hour and a half and two hours of strength training. That's what I notice the most because when I stop is when the knee pain starts, the tendon pain... In the end, doing strength training with little recovery between exercises is almost a cardio session.

And how much can you accumulate in a long run?

When I'm preparing for a half marathon or a marathon I do try to do long runs, but I don't go over 26 or 27 kilometers. The long run I usually do once a week is between 20 and 22 kilometers.

What would you say is the secret or the key to your training routine?

It's difficult to compare because each athlete is different, but in my case, since I've been running since I was 9, I think it's definitely the strength training in the gym. It's what allows me to run. I see colleagues who have many injuries and I think that without good muscle quality you can't accumulate so many kilometres. Since I've been training like this I haven't had any injuries or discomfort.

And as for footwear, what shoes do you usually use? Are you in favour of using carbon-cushioned models on a daily basis?

In the case of HOKA we have the Rocket X 2 as a competition shoe, a model that I only use when I compete or for something very specific, like when I did a long run preparing for the Zaragoza Marathon. In general I run with the Clifton 9 or the Mach 5 depending on whether I'm going at a slower or faster pace.


Do you take great care of your diet and rest?

Of course. In fact, when I'm feeling really good I always think: "be careful." With high muscle tone you have a much higher risk of injury because you are no longer 25 years old. If you don't rest well you notice it, if you eat poorly you notice it... You have to take much more care of yourself. It's not that I weigh food or anything obsessive, but I do try to be well rested, well hydrated and well fed.
What challenges do you have for 2024?
To continue enjoying running, which is what I'm doing now. Professional sport was the track, the tension, the clock... Now I do races that I couldn't do. Things that motivate me. And for 2024... I don't know, a triathlon, a trail. I think now is the time to do these kinds of challenges.


This is confirmation that Reyes Estevez's longevity is largely in part due to a very big focus on strength training in the gym with heavy weights to maintain muscle mass which helps in avoiding injuries and keeps him training at a high level.

If you compare Reyes Estevez, the Catalan monster, with your average marathon runner and put both of them on a beach in swimwear, Reyes Estevez will stand out because of his muscular build, abdominal muscles well in evidence, and pectoral muscles jutting out, and in fact he's going to turn a lot of heads especially those of passerby women who happen to be there, compared to your average aging marathon runner who will basically be invisible due to poor physical shape and skinny fat syndrome.

The turban tornado Fujah Singh is something like 213 years old and ran I want to say a marathon in 2 hundred and 29 minutes!

I remember him. Those were the days when he battled with El G and Ngeny. It was EPIC. Was also clean, couldn’t have taken EPO based on space-time scrutiny of his performances and behavior. There is another Spanish athlete who is just as good in the marathoner in his 50s. Martin Fiz is his name.

The records for 54 and 55 year olds don't look like that

worldathletics.org

Aleksandr ROGOTEN | Profile | World Athletics

Aleksandr ROGOTEN, Russia - Marathon

Open link

The ARRS website clearly states:

"Last Updated on 01 Nov 2019"

So we can have reasonable doubt that he is clean?

There have been multiple scientific peer-reviewed studies that have found that EPO actually has anti-aging benefits.

Your doping apologism is sickening sometimes.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

[The anti-aging effect of EPO and the preliminary probe into its mechanisms] - PubMed

The middle dosage of EPO has the anti-aging effect, and its mechanisms may be related to enhancing the antioxidant enzymes activity and increasing the antioxidant capacity.

Open link

Your selective, racist doping apologism is sickening all the time.

Correct there's zero doping record re estevez. But...check his record pre and post 2000 when EPO testing came in, and his age at 2000 and what we know about some Spanish runners of that era and others of his coaching group.

He was also ferociously talented and extremely well coached. I don't think he'd cheat as a 48 y.o marathon runner. He has no comparable incentive. I had reliable source to indicate that at his peak years he was earning c $250k pa all told.

I've spoken with him (Reyes Estevez) via Instagram and he seems like a sincere, serious dude despite his image of being a playboy. I don't think he's ever cheated, but of course I can't prove that and nor can anyone else. He trains more like a triathlete and gym rat than long distance runner. Focuses on muscle strength and development. Built like a middle weight boxer. Monster!

Definitivamente muchísima intensidades 👍💪

Amazing athlete. Very durable and used to be a ferocious miler. I trust my instincts he is clean. Muy limpia bien 👍