Running Longevity - Impressive Performances

I believe that Clarence DeMar won Boston over a span of close to two decades. Walker and Scott, with over 100 sub-4:00's (plus prob as many sub 3:42's) were workhorses. Eamonn sub-4:00 over a 20+ span. Tergat shadowed Geb solidly for over a decade, rare for a Kenyan. Jenny Spangler- held both Jr. AND Master's women's marathon AR's. Merlene Ottey had a slew of WC/Oly medals from '83-2000. Some of the Master's guys like Ed W, Earl Fee, Bill Collins and Nolan Shaheed seem indominable.

My own tiny "spanner" was/is sub-2:13 for 800 over a 33-year span (age 16-49). Maybe still....

johnny gray

Carlos Lopes is a good choice...

Rod Dixon (NZ) is another...

...Paula....2yrs to go for her 5th Olympics....

get some wrote:

johnny gray

Indeed. Making 4 Olympic finals at 800m is the most remarkable achievement of his imho.

laban rotich

3:53 indoor mile age 36

3:56 indoor mile age 37

3:39 indoor 1500 age 38

7:51 3k indoor age 37

Skuj wrote:

Who do you know who has run at a high level for a very long period?

On the world stage, obvious people are:

Geb; His first WC win was 1993, his first WR was 1994, and here we are in 2010 still marvelling at what he does.

Lopes; he was a major player in the 76 Olympics and World XC, and 9 years later, he won World XC, and ran a WR Marathon.

Coe; sub 1:45 in 1978, sub 1:45 in 1989.

What about the your Regional longevity gods?

I once heard about someone from the BC Interior who did sub 50sec 400m for 20yrs in a row. ????

I know someone who has been in sub 25min 8k shape for a span of 20 years.....Jim Finlayson

(I'm proud of doing sub 2:05 800m for 20 years in a row, 82-01, so forgive me here.) :)

Discuss.

Skuj, I've run at least 31:23 for 10k for 27 consecutive years, with 23 of those no slower than 30:26, and 20 no slower than 30:04. And, yes, I'm pretty sore and stiff.

Wow, who are you?

Dean's 50 'thons in 50 days was ridiculous!

Skuj,

Two runners I know (knew) had pretty long careers at a fairly high level. The first was fellow Canadian Gerard Cote who first ran the Boston Marathon in 1936 and last ran it in 1955, winning 4 time in his 16 attempts. He made the top eight 13 times and last ran that Marathon at age 41.

The other, Francie Larrieu Smith, was on 5 United States Olympic Track and Field Teams starting with the 1972 Team and ending with the 1992 Team.

I was SOOOO hoping you'd see this thread and join in Steve! :)

Indeed, I watched you race in the 80s and I still marvel at what you do, esp because you are 1yr younger than me, and I somehow lost the plot, hahahaha.

dim whitman wrote:

SB wrote:

Skuj, I've run at least 31:23 for 10k for 27 consecutive years, with 23 of those no slower than 30:26, and 20 no slower than 30:04. And, yes, I'm pretty sore and stiff.

Wow, who are you?

Well it's Steve Boyd innit?

More needs to be siad about Clarence DeMar and especially his Boston Marathon record. DeMar was born in June of 1888. In 1910 he was second in his first Boston Marathon run. He won the Boston Marathon in 1911 and was named to the 1912 Olympic Team. During those years doctors were telling him that he had a heart mumur and was endangering his health. His training and racing after 1912 was sporadic until the 1920s although he did come 3rd in Boston in 1917. DeMar went on to win Boston 5 times in the 1920s and again in 1930. He ran Boston 26 times between 1910 and 1954 when he came 78th in 3:58:34 at age 65. He placed in the first ten 15 times including his seven wins. Clarence DeMar ran in two Olympic Games in addition to those of 1912. He won a Bronze medal in 1924.

Johnny Kelley

Skuj wrote:

Who do you know who has run at a high level for a very long period?

On the world stage, obvious people are:

Coe; sub 1:45 in 1978, sub 1:45 in 1989.

Discuss.

Coe sub 1:44 in 1978 and 1989

1:43.97 1 London (CP) 15 Sep 1978

1:43.38 1 Berne, SUI 29 Aug 1989

how can thread go this long without mentioning.....Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and set the world record in his event four times.

RuKiddingMe! wrote:

how can thread go this long without mentioning.....Edwin Corley Moses (born August 31, 1955) is an American track and field athlete who won gold medals in the 400 metre hurdles at the 1976 and 1984 Olympics. Between 1977 and 1987, Moses won 107 consecutive finals (122 consecutive races) and set the world record in his event four times.

Please cite your sources.

Skuj wrote:

Who do you know who has run at a high level for a very long period?

I'd have to say Cam Levins. He's broken 4:00 for the mile twice and several months apart. Now that's longevity!

Are there any videos of coe running in the 1:43-1:44 range in the mid/late 80s? there only seem to be videos of him online up to about 1984...

It's weird because we always hear he was fantastic, but at least the video evidence is lacking after 1984.