At what age were you the fastest?

24 through 26. everything seemed so easy for me in this period and i thought it was just the beginning of greater things to come. 10 years later i still can\'t come close to what i did those years. i don\'t know what it was but i was on fire in my mid 20\'s.

16-17

Mostly my junior year of high school.

Had one good race when I was 19 (soph in college) and then never ran again for 18 years because of injuries.

When I was 39, I ran faster for a half marathon and then got hurt at work and haven't run for 3 years.

I started at 14 years old. I am an old man now haha. Anyway my fastest times in half mile - 3 mile were in University and my fastest long races 10k plus and including marathon were between 26-28 years of age. Those years were the best. I would get the runner's high often and of course, more time was spent training and less injured. By then you are smart enough to know your limits yet not old enough to need joint medicine. I ran for some teams during this time and had some decent coaches and played around with some running gurus training philosophies. Lydiard and his long mileage bases and many interval coaches. Van Aaken and a using Percy Cerutty's sand hill training.

17,18 and 23

21, when my 3k/steeple/5k PR's were all set. Now I'm 24 and fat.

I ran four years in high school. I had better 440 & 880 times back then. We didn't race longer than two miles. All the distance times were better when I was 41. I put in more base miles when I was older. I'm enjoying running slower these days. I have no choice.

So far right now I'm the fastest i've ever been and I'm only 21. I hope to keep dropping my times down more and more as I get closer to my mid to late 20s. Once I'm in my 30s and older I'll just run for run to stay in shape.

deadmenswalking wrote:

I started racing at age 43 and got most of my PR's at age 49. I am 52 now and those PR's at 49 are likely to stick.

At what age were you the fastest?

You're my hero! :o)

I was a decent HS runner (4:50 mile, 10:35 2-mile, 16:35 5K), then ran only sporadically until about 3 years ago. Went from a 43-year-old 31:00 5K to a 45-year-old 20:25, then got injured. I'm back on track, so to speak, and I still think I can run my best "adult" times, but I doubt I'll ever get close to what I could run at 17-18 years old.

BTW, my bro-in-law, who was an excellent college runner in the late 60's and early 70's, is still running 18:00 5K's at age 62, AFTER major knee surgery. Some people just "have it."

I was fastest at 18, I just turned 20 and haven't run seriously for the past 20 months. Hopefully I'll get back into some good, serious training and racing sometime before I get old. For now, I've decided to take a break from running and look elsewhere for activity because I've gotten fed up with all of the injuries. I'm going to see how climbing and cycling treat me.

Ages 29 and 30 - PRs in everything from the mile to the marathon. All came together for a year or two, and then "poof".

I ran a pr in a track 5k last week. 44 years old, been modestly running for 5 years.

started running at age 13 at local athletics club, at age 20 hit my peak and was area xc champion. Maintained high level till aged 27 then injuries started to plague me, so just do 50mpw and coach senior mens xc team at same club.

Teens were my best running days - hard work to keep up momentum and little else but running took up most of my spare time- but the memories are worth it!

25 - I was my best at EVERY distance - was able to train like a nut.

Now I'm 46 and broken down like somebody's old jalopy.

fastest between ages of 24-26. ran 1st race at age 6. ran sporadically from age 6-13. "competitive runner" ages 13-28. currently broken down in mid-30's. still getting out there though.

Quickest times for the sprints were in my teens, unsure if I was just as quick at age 25.

Age 20 fastest for 800 m

Age 25 ran my fastest for 1500 m

Age 27 fastest for 5000 m

Age 31 quickest 10000 m time

These were track times.

Age 33 PR for marathon. Last PR for any event was then.

Been running since Gr. 11, age 16, was no stranger to track & field events jr. high school age.

Marked slowdown after age 40 following a ischial tuberosity hamstring injury despite best efforts to maintain & every kind of physio, etc.

More injuries seemingly every week following that one :(

These days, age 59, run for the 'health' of it.

My marathon pace 26 years ago now feels like a very fast pace with the danger of pulling something, go figger.

Your pattern is common. Its easier to PR as a mature runner for the longer distances.

I had medial meniscus surgery at age 50 but I've been mounting a careful comeback. I was ready to excell in my new 50's age bracket but I red lined too much.

I am happy to be running and racing again but part of me wants to make a run at some of my PR's that I got at 49. Don't want to risk injury though.

deadmenswalking wrote:

Your pattern is common. Its easier to PR as a mature runner for the longer distances.

I had medial meniscus surgery at age 50 but I've been mounting a careful comeback. I was ready to excell in my new 50's age bracket but I red lined too much.

I am happy to be running and racing again but part of me wants to make a run at some of my PR's that I got at 49. Don't want to risk injury though.

So you had medial meniscus surgery...and able to return to running? Awesome!

At age 34 (forgot to mention) I was under the scope for patella plica. That, as well as my hamstring pull 6 years later ended my ability to rack up any more PR's..simply due to the fact I'd get injured again, and again, and again, whenever I would ramp up my training. I did have some very good online coaching for the year 2000, gave me a good base to build from but was disappointed with my Winter series road races I ran in.

Good luck in your comeback.

Yes that's exactly what I feel. I don't want to ramp up the training if its going to risk me not racing for another 5 months. (I don't bounce back as quick as I used to) Yet I am now feeling good and am curious as to how much I have left in the tank.

So the hamstring pull was bad enough to take you out of racing

I mean racing at your peak.