well it is possible Ryan hall used testosterone as a PED do to his low T problems at end of his career. One of the side effects of using test is that it negates natural production of test so you have to keep using/injecting it constantly or your T will go bye bye. Maybe Sara joined the Darkside if her husband did. Many religious people use religion as a cover for their sins to put on a front or to alleviate the inner guilt the feel from sinning.
Jack Foster
Bekele ran 2:01:41 at 37. He would of run the WR in London with a faster time in April if it wasn't for the dumb disease. He was prepared as you can see from his tempo run around London in the Vitility Half where he destroyed the field and course record in March. He will be 39 next year when he gets the WR/Olympic gold so we will have that to look forward to. I for one can't wait. Maybe Sarah Hall will be celebrating gold alongside Bekele next year if Kosgei gets busted
oldschoollrc wrote:
Pretty sure he won World XC for the first time at about 29. Then had some injuries before his successes late in his career.
He did but he became substantially better later on. Compare the Montreal 10 to the Bislett race in '83.
No one has mentioned the GOAT blue collar runner Brian Sell!
Dude couldn't break 10 min for the 2-mile in HS. PR of 2:10:47 at age 29. At age 30 runs 2:11 to finish third in the 08 Olympic Trials and goes to the Olympics.
5 star hotel chilling wrote:
well it is possible Ryan hall used testosterone as a PED do to his low T problems at end of his career. One of the side effects of using test is that it negates natural production of test so you have to keep using/injecting it constantly or your T will go bye bye. Maybe Sara joined the Darkside if her husband did. Many religious people use religion as a cover for their sins to put on a front or to alleviate the inner guilt the feel from sinning.
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Sara Bei was religious BEFORE she became a serious runner. I'm talking High School. She was the California State 1600 meter Champion one year and runner-up another. I think she may have won Footlocker also. She was a star at Stanford. She didn't come out of nowhere. I know I set all my PR's (slow as they were) when I was 37.
Brian MF Sell wrote:
No one has mentioned the GOAT blue collar runner Brian Sell!
Dude couldn't break 10 min for the 2-mile in HS. PR of 2:10:47 at age 29. At age 30 runs 2:11 to finish third in the 08 Olympic Trials and goes to the Olympics.
Dude didn't train in HS.
The difference in most of these examples are is that they aren't of guys who trained hard from 15-35 and were like 2:12 (i.e. Sara was a national class runner for a long time) marathoners. And then over the next 2 years they went from 2:12 to 2:07. We have lots of examples of talented guys who took the sport up late and ran fast in their late 30s/40. See like John Campell or Jack Foster.
If you go down the US marathon list there are some people who said their PRs in their mid to late 30s. But a lot of them were running either close early on or just moved to the distance.
You are going to need a combo of a person being good enough at short distances to stick with it (i.e. you are running like 13:25 5ks and think you are on the edge of breaking through) , the ability to up training (going from 80mpw to 110 if what I read is right), and then it turning out the longer distance is your event. That combo isn't going to happen much.
If you expand to look at late 20s guys, there are a bunch that went from OK 10k guys (call it 29 mins) to much better marathoners (2:12) when they switched up their training. But obviously that isn't quite the same. They are younger and not as high of level.
Jack Foster, New Zealand.
A lot less likely for men, because men face a lot more competition.
trubadon wrote:
A lot less likely for men, because men face a lot more competition.
And don't take breaks to have kids.
Brian MF Sell wrote:
No one has mentioned the GOAT blue collar runner Brian Sell!
Dude couldn't break 10 min for the 2-mile in HS. PR of 2:10:47 at age 29. At age 30 runs 2:11 to finish third in the 08 Olympic Trials and goes to the Olympics.
Sell was a D1 All-American in college. Steady progress through college and into professional running.
Priscilla Welch. Did not start competitive running until age 35. Was a pack and a half a day smoker prior to running. She won & placed high in several major marathons, broke 2:30, and was 6th in the Olympics.
Let's be honest.... Late bloomer just means someone who trained poorly and therefore never got close to their potential when younger, or someone who started taking PEDs later in life.
I knew Eddie. I competed against his high school team. It was a huge scandal when he got popped. He was also the person who brought Shadrack Biwott to the states.
Meb, didn't get his PR until 37, Carlos Lopez set the world record at 38
Rich Powers was definitely a late bloomer. PR'ing right and left in the marathon through his upper 40's!
Rich is very inspirational! He ripped off a PR on his 100th marathon, at 53 years old! Sub-3 all day BABY!!
Opinionated guy wrote:
Priscilla Welch. Did not start competitive running until age 35. Was a pack and a half a day smoker prior to running. She won & placed high in several major marathons, broke 2:30, and was 6th in the Olympics.
Sorry, I initially read the thread title as "female".....
The problem guys face is their testosterone is going down a lot. Women don't face the same problem.
The OP did say male, but I want to give notice to the Miki Gorman, who, I believe, was the epitome of a late bloomer. She was also one of the most humble and self-effacing person I've ever had the pleasure to meet. Miki's record speaks for itself.