Whiteman goes sub 4:00 at 40!!

This is quite impressive.

I watched Coghlan in person in one of his over 40 sub events.

I was running near 4 flat myself at the time in my early/mid twenties.

I felt like I should be able to run at least 4:10 for years with some training, maybe even to age 40.

I stopped running for years but started some regular running again at age 33.

After a year, I ran 4:32 at age 34. Though I would drop it another 10 seconds in a couple of months but never ran faster.

As I hit 40 I was going to see what I could do for a mile but gut frustrated with a 2:24 800 in a practice run.

Sub 5 was actually going to be a little work and I didn't want to work for sub 5 so I never tried a mile after turning 40.

Anyway, 3:58 for a mile at age 40 is a lot more impressive than I used to think it was, no matter how good someone may have been in their youth.

And Cushing-Murray and Tony Young and the like have my complete respect as well.

good thoughts - runnign within 6 seconds of your lifetime PR in the mile at age 40 is tough, especially at Whiteman's elite level.

How many of you masters guys are/were within 6 seconds of your lifetime PR at age 40?

I am still w/in 6 seconds at age 44, but I was never fast - I ran 4:52 in HS and ran 4:57 last year. I think that is the running accomplishment I am most proud of even after running for 30 years.

Cheers for the support....in my defence i always looked round too much (right back to being an 11 year old)mainly cause it was hurting bad and i really wanted to win the race!!!

Tony W

WELL DONE

Anyone know how his training changed between his professional career (1996/2000) to now? Perhaps he was following the high intensity, low volume training of the 1990s and has since adopted a more aerobically-based method? Perhaps such an adjustment in training explains why his age-grading performance exceed those of his professional career? FWIW, I don't put too much weight into age-grading.

Great run! I got the link to the AW article and you mentioned circuit training designed by Dr Costas Karageorghis at Brunel that works for you. Can you share some detail on what that session consists of? I know this becomes increasingly important as the competitive runner ages but still wants to maintain high performance.

Cheers.

Sir, I don't believe those opposed, or skeptical, of Age Grading are saying this isn't a stellar performance. Just the opposite, it's AWESOME. Just leave the Age Grading out of it. Yes, I'm a masters runner, and yes I think Age Grading is a joke. I don't need some made up formula to tell me what I ran was hypothetically related to something, I look at where I placed and what I ran in correlation to my current fitness and training. To me, it's as valuable as Fantasy Football and about as useful in looking at performances.

Whiteman is a real pro: professional lifestyle, an economical aproach to training and a lot of experience. And he does not look "40"! Awesome race. This fella is gonna be a badass masters runner for a long time. I'm happy to be 6 years his senior and will never have to compete with him in an age group race.

Isn't Geb's 10K of 27:11 at age 39 (possibly older) better? I've got to think Geb could still go under 4 if he wanted based on that time.

Or how about even Deena running a 15:20 something 5k at age 39 after years off of the track.

The article says he is the best mid distance runner for his age - that might be a bit of a stretch

It would be awesome to see Geb tear up the records next year.

Geb's already over 40. WAY over 40.

Dec. 21, 2010, 41 y.o., 3:57.12 by the Native American and Texan that ran the 3:49 M in 1993 in Texas (faster than what Leo ran in his "Texas Record").

On March 10, 2012 at late 42 years old that same Texan ran 1:46.74 for 800 meters which is his best distance.

Is he only the 2nd person to do this? The other being EC

mdw wrote:

Yes, I'm a masters runner, and yes I think Age Grading is a joke. I don't need some made up formula to tell me what I ran was hypothetically related to something, I look at where I placed and what I ran in correlation to my current fitness and training.

Watch it there son.... This is how we dole out the biggest prizes at all our Masters road racing events. When Grandma who is 80 can smoke a 10K, she beats all you youngsters.

So three men have broken 3:46 for the Mile and two men 40-plus have broken 4 minutes for the Mile, so to me, in a relative context to one's age, they are comparable performances with the current age-graded tables adding context.

How many men have broken a 20:00 mile while pushing a wheelbarrow full of civil war re-enactment costumes and 8oz containers of cream cheese? If I were the only one, would you grade/equate my 19:54 mile to a 3:43?

it is important to consider why the vast, vast majority of world class runners don't compete as Masters when they reach 40-plus - yes, time is a factor, different time of their lives, been there done that, don't want to train hard anymore, sub-performance not good enough for them and little if any monetary incentive

This is precisely why age-grading is nonsense. If you can't see the logical failure in developing a multiplier based on two unrelated times/athletes, then applying that multiplier to another unrelated athlete's time (using age as the only determining factor in which multiplier to use) then there's really no point in discussing this any further. I'm better off trying to convince my dog that she shouldn't roll around in dead animals.

observer2 wrote:

Isn't Geb's 10K of 27:11 at age 39 (possibly older) better? I've got to think Geb could still go under 4 if he wanted based on that time.

Or how about even Deena running a 15:20 something 5k at age 39 after years off of the track.

The article says he is the best mid distance runner for his age - that might be a bit of a stretch

But the race result of the moment is Whiteman's mile of 3:58 at age 40, not someone else's age 39 performance. As of today he is the best male 40yr old middle distance runner on the planet. If someone thinks themselves better then git in a race and start runnin', fast.

Age grading is a way to put masters performances in perspective, that is all. Grading allows a 45yr old to compare his times with a 50yr old or a 25 yr old in some kind of context. However a 25yr old's 3:43 mile is always superior to a 40 yr old's 3:58 or a 50yr old's 4:20.

Sir, first of all I'm not your son thank goodness. And two your reply states my case for me. Although I should have known by your moniker. Thanks.

Tremendous achievement.

I wonder what he does for his recent 4x400's. His recent PRs are 24.1/50.1/1:21.3/1:48.3. Anyone know what his personal bests for the 200/400 are (even in workouts)?

http://www.thepowerof10.info/athletes/profile.aspx?athleteid=1748

He's running the 800 this weekend in Indiana.