men and women in your late 40s to 60 plus do you run to keep healthy or because you are competitive

I just turned 70, so I don’t run too much anymore. I walk for fitness and am happy to be able to do that.

I am 50, so I fit the demographic you are asking...

I like to run. That is the main thing. I think I would still run even if I were alone on a desert island.

I like my training partners, so running with them is also a two-birds-one-stone kind of thing. I get to be with friends and socialize while getting my workout in.

I like being outside and have pretty nice places to run, so it ticks the "get some fresh air, get into the woods" box as well.

I would be a fat pig if I didn't exercise. I like to eat and running helps me stay fit.

I like to race and take on other athletic challenges. I want to be able to run a 5:xx at 50 and a decent marathon (BQ?) at 60, and stuff like that. I don't really race for PRs since I am a former D3 runner and even though my PRs are slow, they are untouchable now. Nonetheless, I like to race and do all-out time trials with my friends (which feel like race level efforts).

Running helps me to be less stressed in life and makes me happy. I am a better dad and husband because of my running.

Those are the seven reasons I run.

I still enjoy getting out and putting in a few miles. A hobby jog.

47, run 6-7 days a week because i love everything about it and it’s when i’m most relaxed (mentally, sometimes also physically). im super competitive and want to improve or at least stay competitive on US level. last week i did over 100km for the first time ever despite being a competitive runner in HS.

53. Run 4 to 5 times a week and lift the other days. Also hike and ski when I can. Do it because I love to be outside in the woods and mountains. It's a fight staying healthy but a fight I want to win for as long as possible.

i dont like to train unless i am aiming for something. For 2023, it will be sprinting focusing on 200m.

i used to do it purely to improve running performance. Then a really bad injury, surgery, recovery.... Now I run just as much and about as often, but it's just for conditioning and to stay in shape. The injury changed my motivation.

No complaints, and I feel fortunate for all of it.

I run / walk maybe one to three times a week and not very far.

I used to be competitive, but now I’m older I wonder why I ever was.
In his book “Exercised” Daniel Lieberman, who’s anthropological work, kick started the “Born to run” concept ( and for which he partially apologises in his new book) states that our ancestors and modern day hunter gatherers ( including the legendary Tarahumara) do not run as often as we may like to think, or as fast as we imagine. They certainly don’t “train”.

The concept of PR’s and times is definitely a modern one and may be the one thing that contributes to so many running injuries. In his book Lieberman looks at the running injury issue and cites examples of how those running moderate mileages are far less prone to suffering serious injuries than those who are logging serious training distances or those aiming for fast times.

My own training is geared for good health and longevity these days. As such, racing does not meet my goals, and injury is something I wish to avoid. A little medal would not make up for such a setback.

I get that some like the social aspect of faster training and racing, but personally I can get my social life elsewhere. Nothing beats a relaxing run / walk by myself in the sunshine, listening to the birds sing and viewing life go on around me.

I think of this quote when I think of my relationship to running. I always do it but I don’t always like it in the moment. The satisfaction outweighs any discomfort.

“I don't like work--no man does--but I like what is in the work--the chance to find yourself. Your own reality--for yourself not for others--what no other man can ever know. They can only see the mere show, and never can tell what it really means.”

Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

46 and was running 6 days per week until two months ago. Had totalled over 30,000 miles in the last 8 years and have run 14 marathons including the last 8 under 3 hours.

Two months ago got an infection in my brain (temporarily lost hearing and sight on right side) and haven’t run a step since. Am back to close to 100 percent health but have zero motivation to exercise.
I’m from a family of morbidly obese, so have always tried to be healthy but have completely lost interest in exercise. The longer it goes I know that it will compound.
Maybe tomorrow.

Simple answer - because I enjoy it.

More complex answer - I was an okay X-C runner when younger, modest on track, roads looked promising. I caught a virus one year, performances deteriorated and I dropped out of the sport. I managed to get fit several times over the years, but family, health and other things intervened. Decades later, I am back training as a sprinter. It’s a different challenge – more technical – but less time consuming and certainly less knackering.

I want to see how fast I can go and, perhaps more importantly, for how long I can retain that fitness. Starting from (almost) scratch, pretty much every race last year was an improvement on the previous performance. I expect further improvement at the start of the coming season but much more of a stall in the second half.

The health aspect is important. I could probably get better cardio health from endurance training but my general physical (and mental) shape is worlds away from where I was two years ago.

There’s an element of needing to prove something to myself. Yes, I am supposed to have worked through these things by now but there has always been the feeling that I could have done quite a bit better when younger. “Was that all?” is not a satisfying thought to have kicking around.

Now I have another event and almost no decades-old performances to compare against and fret about. There is a kick in seeing my name crawl up the national ladder, but I’m not particularly worried about trying to break into the top 40/30/20 in the event as I was as a kid. Maybe that will change.

Finally, there’s family. Both kids compete to a reasonable level on track and now I can have a go too, in the gaps in team-related stuff I do in the background. Their embarrassment has abated, the verbals from the trackside have increased. The final kick to getting going again was sitting in the stands in winter, watching them train, envying their enjoyment, getting frustrated. An itch to scratch.

Late 50s here. Until my mid 40s I ran for the competitive aspects. I trained hard to get as “good” as I could. Today I run purely for leisure. I enjoy running, especially with my spouse. We like to be active, and runn8ng a few days each week is a big part of that. I had my time as a competitive amateur, but that’s well behind me. I loved that but I don’t miss it.

45 M here. Stopped racing in my early 30s. Now run about 40mpw on 6/7 days per week. I run whatever pace I feel like. Also lift once or twice a week (have a home gym so no excuses). Running makes every part of my life better. I look at coworkers my age and the differences in health and appearance are tremendous. Most of them look used up, like any vitality they had is gone. There is no secret, and they complain, but refuse to do anything about it. That alone helps get me out the door each day.

I run so that I may still drink beer in mass quantities.

In my early 50s, and apparently Ruxton may be my lost twin.

I like/love to run (depending on the day).

I don't have training partners, so that's out the window.

I'm a big fan of getting outside after being strapped to the desk all day.

I'm trying but failing to get and stay trim, but I'm fighting overall genetics and a horrible sweet tooth.

I love to race. It's always been my curse to have the mind of a racer in a plodder's body. I was once told at a junior olympic training camp that I have the perfect competitive body....for a different sport. Similar goals (a mile that starts with a "5" would be freaking stellar); a BQ this year is going to take a ton of effort, if it's even possible; and I'll never set another lifetime PR (also a D3 has-been, though I got better in grad school). But I love racing, and try not to think of all the younger/faster people chuckling at my fat aass jiggling around the course (joke's on you: if you're lucky, you'll be me in three decades). Instead, I think of different goals (long solo runs) and slowing down the march of time as much as I can (i.e., how good can I be for this age).

I am 100% a better person if I can get out and blow off some steam. My biggest lament is that I didn't dedicate more of my time to running when my kids were growing up. I would have been a better role model and a better parent. I used to think I'd be taking time away from them, but I see now that I would have been more chill and enjoyable to be around. Hindsight, alas.

I'm with you on this one. I just run so I don't balloon up to 300 pounds. Running sheds the beer pounds or at least manages them a little better.

44-Ran competitively for many years, D1 college and sub-elite after college. Looking back, I wish I could have enjoyed the friendships and experiences by being less competitive. Nowadays I go out daily for 65 minutes on the watch, don't measure it, and I love it. I know longer have the desire to compete. Running is the best anti-depressant/anti-anxiety cure out there. I also like that it keeps my weight down and adds to overall wellness. My co-workers think I'm nuts, but I wish I could bottle the feeling I get after a run and give it to them. As a lifetime runner, I feel like people don't know what they're missing, and it's so easily within their grasp to do it. I will run until the day I die.

Yes

50s here

I run for a lot of reasons...mostly to feel alive. To feel that desperation for a finish line to arrive...total focus. Leave work and other frustrating things behind.

But also for friends, because I'm good at it and it's fun to win, so I can eat whatever I want, so I am healthier, to get me outside more. But mostly that feeling of being very alive. Life would be very dull without start and finish lines and that clock always running.