A question for old timers.

Well, geez, Ruth Wysocki, you are indeed among the giants of the sport - profiles on you and your peers were more than motivating to this mere mortal - and I was even motivated enough to wear Brooks flats (for a while). Mental motivation has been my obstacle, and I use the family/job-type excuses to drink beer and enjoy the deck after work instead of train. Funny thing, I always feel better after a good run, but by tomorrow, me and Sam Adams are back on the deck.

[quote]Steve Hoag wrote:

BTW, more power to you, doing a 4 A.M paper route....that's gotta count for something!! STEVE

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Haha it has to! Been noticing how much my legs feel heavier while running albeit harder than usual since I decided to run alternate days. Combination of the early rise (only been doing it for 2 1/2 weeks and starting another paper route tomorrow) walking & the cycling for the 2 plus/minus hr. I'm delivering....sure see a LOT of early riser runners out there..always been a rack monster whenever I get the chance :)

Age: 43....About 33-50% of my old HS and college teammates run regularly (defined as 3 or more times a week). About 20% of them do races regularly (defined as more than 4 per year). About 5% still race with some kind of competitive intent. And the 95% are very jealous of the 5%.

I suspect a good many old runners stop racing - and even running - because their bodies give out. It happened to me and to the two other guys in Miami I ran with. We won a lot of the road races down there in the '70s and early '80s and all three of us are unable to run now. And we all wish we could - and wish we could still race.

I thought I'd run into my grave - at a really old age - but got stopped 11 years ago by an arthritic hip at age 58. Since I coached high school kids, i always ran with them, and every five years i'd get psyched to compete in nat'l masters road races. Loved being able to beat Ron Daws (and an up-and-coming Joan Benoit)in the Gate River run in '78. Disappointed at getting 2nd in 50+ at 10K in Charlotte until I learned that #1 was Bob Schul. Hoped to break 6' pace for 8K at 60 - it was possible, I think, but that became moot when the hip went. I wanted to put off replacement and managed to do so for 9 years. Only walking and biking now. I want the hip to last. It works fine but more surgery is on my avoid-if-at-all-possible list.

Almost 52, and mostly a jogger these days. Started running in 1974. Dont miss road races, but do miss Cross Country and track a bit (The feeling when you put on your spikes and fly)

Love to see posts by the people I followed back then like Ruth Wysocki. I admired people like her and Joan Benoit, and Patti Dillon because aside from being great, they absolutely love to run.

I remember running with Ed Whitlock at Around the Bay in 1994, he was then 63 and was so fluid.

Man, what a great thread....

Steve Hoag, Orville, Ruth...who else?

I am 55, started running in '75 after watching Bill Rodgers win the marathon...went on and ran 13 Bostons (yes, all qualified) and several New Yorks and others adding up to about 27.

I was no where near as fast as some of you, but it's all relative. I ran a 4:55 mile at 32 yoa and got down to a 2:48 marathon...after a severe bout with Patella Tendinitis one year (95) I started to run trails and got competitive in those races, then started to run ultras. All the slow running on the soft stuff saved me and now I'm hoping to qualify for Boston again this fall. Ran a 3.5 mile tempo run in a 6:37 pace today and can't imagine that I ran marathon's faster than that!

Speaking earlier of BR and his running, a good friend of mine is his neighbor and trains with him almost daily. He says running with Bill is like going to a rock concert with Bruce Springsteen ;-)

Yeah, Bill is slow these days, too....

Great thread, great board when these sort of discussion come up...

Saw this result for the London Marathon

1230 21 55645 » MR WESSINGHAGE, THOMAS (GER) M55 3:07:10

From Wikpedia

Thomas Wessinghage (born February 22, 1952 in Hagen) was a German middle- and long-distance runner who won the 1982 European Championships' final over 5000 metres beating the British world-record holder David Moorcroft.

In 1980 he set a German record of 3:31.58 min over 1500 metres which still has not been broken. In the same race Steve Ovett from the UK set a world record of 3:31.36 min.

While Wessinage may not be the fastest M55 marathoner around, for someone of that class and still running is a rarity

Running for 27 years since January, 1980 when I was 19....more than 65,500 miles since then....16 marathons since January 1984...8 sub3s with a 2:54...2:55 and a 2:56 in there....3 solo 26.2s in the last 3 months....last being April 20th in 3:27:12....a BQ for my age (47 in July).....the big city marathons do not much appeal to me anymore...since I can run a marathon by myself any given day without the annoying taper and loading and crowds....probably could knock out a 3:05-3:10 if I did the taper/load now. I run 11.2 miles a day and have not missed a day since 5 years ago tomorrow...still only my second best streak....3,155 days from '93-'01. Only two years have been under 3,000 miles since I turned 30 in July of 1990...those were 2,746 in '01 and 2,537 in '02. last 4 years have been 3,672-3,726...why would anybody quit running?...this is a lifetime gig. Plenty more to do like ultras.

I just turned 84, but I still do windsprints.

Running hard still feels GREAT but the price is HIGH so I do alot of hard mtn biking.I ride pretty hard feel GOOD and recover FAST.Probably will return to running/racing every now and then.Probably will move down to the 400 thru the 1500 from the 5000.

game one, short bald dude.

GabbaGabbaHey wrote:

Time is an issue for me. I only get to run in the woods on Sunday mornings. Every step is delicious. I usually go 11 miles on Sundays. Otherwise, I roller blade in the dark in my subdivision at night, or use my elliptical machine, usually for 90 minutes a day. . . I think of myself as a RUNNER, although running is now only a small part of what I do. I just do the cross training stuff so I am fit enough to make my 11 mile forest circuit.

desert rodent wrote:

Where is this forest - just geographically curious.

Sorry it took me so long to respond. I am in Michigan. My favorite forest is very close to East Lansing and Michigan State University. Years ago it used to be a gravel pit, I think, but now it's a state park called Sleepy Hollow. There are a several more parks that that are not too far away to drive to, but Sleepy Hollow is my favorite.

I am 58 and started running freshman year of HS. Last weekend at a road race I counted 5 guys who were racing when I started running road races in the late sixties. They are all older than me.

I coach the Greater Boston Track Club so that gets me to far more races than I might otherwise run in. I raced 10 km (Groton, MA) last weekend and placed 41 out of 133 in my age group. (ave 6:43 per mile) so there are a lot of old guys out there.

This Sunday is a 5km New England Grand Prix Race where I have threatened to "make" the club's women's open team. I figure I can't lose. If I finish among the club's top five women I can claim to be a good runner. If they all beat me then I can claim to be a good coach.

I like racing and competing and find it amusing that my race pace is what used to be common training pace.

But I do get a last laugh when I see people who ask me if I am still running. I answer, "No....not since this morning."

Tom

You are aging well Tom!

My current 5K race pace is twice that of my marathon pace in the 1960s and 1970s, however, I still love doing it. I still have the challenge of improving my time. What I really miss is the feeling I used to get while cruising along at a comfortable 6:30 a mile pace for an hour or more. Maybe I could borrow some of Ed Whitlock's genes and tecknique some day.

Yes, when I go for the warm up run with the men's team it is a tempo run for me. Soon enough their rest laps will be my fast laps and for the rest part of the interval workout I will have to bring a folding chair to the track.

Tom

I could and would jog/run for my health into my mid 40s, (after retiring in my early 30s from competition and 100 mpw training). My knees have slowly gone bad in the past 10 years. I am now 56 and can't run; walking is painful sometimes. (arthritis). Whether this was caused by running all those years? No way to know. I have friends who were NOT runners who also have bad knees, now in their 50s.

Great thread, thanks to 'Just Asking'

Some times i seem to have enough energy to run daily say for 25 - 30 min. at a time. Now am on a 4x a week schedule to see how & IF the aches & pains go away.

maybe I should go to Gabbagabahey's method? Been there before though not ever up to 90 min. at a time on an elliptical, the rec. centre I visit only allows 20 min.

victoria, b.c., canada, runner wrote:

Great thread, thanks to 'Just Asking'

(Should be 'Older runners'

[quote]SouthernSun wrote:

I suspect a good many old runners stop racing - and even running - because their bodies give out. It happened to me and to the two other guys in Miami I ran with. We won a lot of the road races down there in the '70s and early '80s and all three of us are unable to run now. quote]

Your last name would not happen to rhyme with the state fruit of Georgia, now would it?