SUB 5 at 50

Indoor mile. Boston MA 12/24/11

Section 5

1 cooney, mike Unattached 4:50.02

2 fram, craig Unattached 4:51.77

3 hammond, paul Unattached 4:57.49

5 Doe, Paul Unattached 5:00.20

All 50.

Not bad........

to the original question, there are probably 40 guys who could do it (age group track guys + roadies who rarely run the distance) but there are only 20 or so guys who actually do it in a calendar year.

the degree of difficulty rises more like exponentially with every year.

i have run sub 5 for 36 consecutive years, (am 51) and i have won national championships in the last year at other distances, and i'l tell you i really don't think i can continue the streak after 72k miles of slog.

also, it gets really hard to hurt that much in training and racing to get it done.

after a half mile into the race i'm thinking of a good merlot and an ashton cigar. . .

anyway, good luck to those who aspire.

it really is not easy.

but seriously there is nothing funnier than watching old guys try to run fast. . . its just so . . . humiliating.

here's hoping for 37 straight...

it is the time for resolutions after all.

Wolves wrote:

Im 47 and just so you all know, I will have no problem breaking 5:00 at 50. I have not run much over the last 13 years, so I'll be "fresh". Running well now, 27 min for 5 miles off 20 mpw

until you do it, you ain't done it. i'll pop by this thread in three years, though, just out of curiosity. coincidentally, i'll be 47 then, but wise enough not to make such a bold prediction--you never know what father time has in store for us.

also, just because, i'll go out tomorrow and attempt a sub-5 to try to kick up my streak--and defy father time--to 31 years (1982-2012). i'm coming for you egun...

I am with socal on this. At age 47 I ran a 3 x one mile workout on the track. 5:12-5:08-4:58

At 50 I ran 5:19 all out in a race.

Never stopped training. Just got slower.

There were a number of over 40's who did sub-5:00 last year in Montana (Montana Masters Mile); but, don't believe that we've ever had a 50+ pull the trick. We have a couple who may be capable; but, don't think it's happened in the recent past.

As a former teammate of Roy's, I bow down to his accomplishment. While I run almost every day, to run sub-5 means you have to train, and I gave that up a long time ago. My parent may not be abusive, but is still a hard disciplinarian . . .

Happy New Year Roy!

I'm just about to go into the 55+, and think I could get pretty close. I've closed out 60 minute accelaration runs in 5:13 last year, and ran 24 x 200 with 200m in 1 min recovery at 37-38 sec.

No opportunity for mile or 1500m racing here, but ran a 4:40 1500m off 5k training and a couple of days after a 5k.

Didn't have the basic talent of a lot of guys who are in the age group, but have kept the intensity going, and have never had more than a few weeks off in 40+ years.

There are probably a lot of guys who might potentially be able to do it, still running 5k on the road, but I'd be surprised if better than 100 would actually have got themselves in shape to actually run one that quick in a given year. For 55+ only 29 are recorded as running 4:40 or less for 1500m last year in the world.

Blowing.Rock Master wrote:

wuzthere wrote:

It's really a lifestyle issue. People have bad habits, poor eating habits, stress, lack of sleep, inappropriate training. If someone took good care of his body, at 50, one should at least be able to run the times one ran as a junior in high school.

I ran 5:16 as a junior. I'm shooting for 5:15 this year at 49, so we'll see if your theory is correct.

This idea seems pretty good. In the ballpark for me too.

As a junior in HS I ran 52s/440

At age 54, I can run 65s/400 all out.

One just accumulates too much damage due to wear and tear, fat on the liver, etc.

put togther a national day for all to contest a sub 5 min mile...then you will know how many Americans and 50 year olds are capable of it??

Wolves, I have some sobering news for you. There can be a gigantic difference between performances at age 47 compared to age 50.

I was running sub 5 1600's on the track in training at age 47 and thought it would be a breeze at 50. Many factors come in to play...you may find that running staple workouts like 12x200 lead to immediate injury. I barely broke 5:13 at 50 - it felt like a 4:20.

Be careful and good luck.

Indoor mile. Boston MA 12/24/11

Section 5

1 cooney, mike Unattached 4:50.02

2 fram, craig Unattached 4:51.77

3 hammond, paul Unattached 4:57.49

5 Doe, Paul Unattached 5:00.20

All 50.

Not bad........

_________________________________________________

Bah, that's old news.

Yesterday, that foursome set the 4 x mile Seniors World Record(!) at the Lou's Relay at BU.

Mike Cooney- 4:42

Paul Doe- 4:55

Paul Hammond- 4:51

Craig Fram- 4:47

Total time was 19:19, so a couple of those times may be a second or two off, but regardless, pretty damned sweet.

Not to mention 3 of those guys (Cooney, Hammond and Fram) were on the WR setting 4 x mile Masters (40+) in 10 years ago.

Thanks for the result. I knew they were going for it so glad they got it done. These guys just keep hammering away, great inspiration to all age groups, all runners.

Old men do it again for whirl away, HFC Is still better

Thom Hunt wrote:

As a former teammate of Roy's, I bow down to his accomplishment. While I run almost every day, to run sub-5 means you have to train, and I gave that up a long time ago. My parent may not be abusive, but is still a hard disciplinarian . . .

Happy New Year Roy!

Happy New Year old pal! Hope our paths cross in 2012.

Was this thread started by the same guy who claimed there were 100,000 Americans running 100mpw?

Conservatively: 20 in CA, 5 each in WA, MA, that's 30 right there. 100 is looking pretty solid as an estimate.

"Many probably haven't run in masters race events, so are not ranked....definitely more than single digits, but less than triple digits...50-75 seems about right"

This is very doubtful. If anyone over 60 is sub 5 in the mile it is very big news.

Whirlaway has at least 7 50 year olds who run sub 5:oo

Cooney,Fram,Hammond,Doe,Martin,Stirrat, Platt

HFC 0