Super impressive: 62-year old Tommy Hughes - 2:30:05 marathon today in Manchester

Somehow I feel this should be part of the thread about doping in senior sport.

Evidence? He was an Olympian as a younger man and still puts in 100 miles a week. I am certain that there is some doping going on in the older age-groups but Tommy seems to be following in Ed Whitlock's footsteps - a talented runner that just keeps at it and trains more than just about anyone his age.

...and super shoes.

I'm not questioning the validity of this performance, but how does a 62yo consistently run 100 mile weeks? Is it just all super slow on soft surfaces like Ed? Anyone with insight on his daily training?

Ed Whitlock ran 2.52.47 at age 69. He was 22 minutes slower than Hughes while only 7 years older.

I am 7 weeks away from turning 62. There is no way that I could even come close to that level of athletic accomplishment.

Is he kicking himself ? 6 seconds faster would have been a sub 2:30.

From another article I thought it was mainly 7min miles with a bunch of low key races.

Age group stuff is tough. Eventually you are going to have the one guy who is highly talent, ages just a hair slower, and wins the injury game and they will put up absurd times. Throw in ability to train (how many 50-60 year olds can spend 12+ hours training and pay for things like PT) and we will get a bunch of outliers...

7 years older is a huge gap.

Unless you are over 55 you have no idea what age does to you.

Hind: It doesn't make you faster.

His 2:54 at age 73 was a better performance

Whitlock trained exclusively on a hard surface on a graveyard path which was the same as the road surface outside, in a Toronto suburb. He was lucky to be very light on his feet. He also trained almost exclusively at a very reasonable pace which some people would even consider slow. He avoided training with his sons because when they trained with him they would go too fast and become impatient with Ed. even though they were not real athletes.

i can't tell you how he trains, but i can tell you what i do.

First, running 100+ miles weeks as an older runner is no different than at any other age.

you have to build up to it. and no, it is not all just slow running.

you have to know how to recover: means eat well, sleep well. and go easy on the days when your body says go easy.

i have noticed that i don't plan workouts as much any more (this is actually good advice for any age). Do the workout your body lets you do. If i feel quick, i run speed workouts. If i feel tired, i either take a day off running or run knowing that i am tired = so slower.

Even when i do workouts the number and speed of the reps is not preset. You might think this means i do less, but often it is the exact opposite. By going into a workout with no preset number in mind, i ease into it better. Find my pace better. and feel better. therefore in the end, i do more. and many times end up faster overall.

This is only one data point, but according my grandparents, the single worst decade for both physical and mental decline was the 60->70y/o span. Each of the previous decades resulted in a small/tolerable decline, but going from 60->70 was like a cliff.

When I started working at my current company, there was a 63 year old guy who was in surprisingly good shape, still cycling/walking a lot and mentally sharp. When he 'retired' (against his will) at 71 he was a totally different person - had to give up all exercise except walking, had numerous surgeries, noticeable mental slowdown, weight gain, and much crabbier.

5:44 per mile.

That's crazy.

I'm not surprised by this. Hughes seems to be on an incredible roll, setting age group world records every time he runs. Great for him. It will be interesting to see if he can take down Ed Whitlock's records. He seems to be on the right path to do it, but a lot of bad stuff can happen from age 62 to 70-85+, when Whitlock went on his epic world record streak.

Hopefully that will inspire your sub-3:00 effort as a much younger man. Think I'd be happy to run sub-4:30 at the age of 62.

A lot of this makes sense and is similar to how I have evolved my running. But I’m also a lot slower (even relative to my age group) than I used to be when I ran according to a more structured program. I’m curious as to how much success you have had? Has this run as you feel approach worked well?

You strike me as being very good with numbers.

Damn that's impressive. He looks every day of 62 and then some too. Wow!

I know this is disputed, but according to Guinness

"The oldest man to complete a 26-mile marathon was Greek runner Dimitrion Yordanidis, in Athens, Greece on 10 October 1976. At age 98, he finished in 7 hr 33 min"

Just because you are decrepit it doesn't mean other older men have to be.