Is it possible to break 2:30 after Age 40?

ecto wrote:

ryan hall weighs 180 now wrote:

You know it's possible to gain or lose weight.

You know, don't you, that most of the male population does not have the skeletal and muscular structure of a teenage girl like an elite male distance runner? Someone who is honestly watching his diet, running 8 to 10 hours per week and weighs 165 lb is not going to drop 30 lbs at age forty unless he is sitting in a cage outside Tokyo in 1944.

Why not? Calories in calories out bro.

Possible yes, but not easy.

You need to get lean.

I ran 2:28 at 40 and 2:26 at 41.

You don’t need a ton of speed just great fitness.

I can barely break 5 minutes for a mile but can run 5:30-5:45 Miles very comfortable. 2:36 is much easier than Sub 2:30. Those last few seconds per mile are difficult.

You need to start with 8-10 mile tempo runs around 6 minutes per mile. Until you can run 10 miles near 6 pace almost weekly you need to keep training.

FWIW, here is my story. I ran in high school but did not run from age 18 to age 25. Once resuming running, I progressed to 80mpw. I ran 2:27 at age 32 and again at age 35. I only dropped off a few minutes in the next few years, running 2:30 at ages 38 and 40. This means a non-collegiate runner can hit 2:30 at age 40.

john_seattle wrote:

What's the "peak" marathon age? I'm currently 32 - trying to see if I'm already over the hill.

Current PR is 2:56 - trying to see if I can break 2:30 before Age 40. But really worried that age might be a factor at some point.

Willing to put in 100 miles per week if that's what it takes.

John Gilmour.

He won the State Marathon Championships in 2.42.47 aged 57.

He ran a marathon in 2.38.19 aged 59 when the Australian qualifying time for the 1980 Los Angeles Olympics was 2.40min.

1989

He looked forward to moving into the M70 group with relish, quickly re-writing the record book at the WMA Championships in Eugene where his 1500 (5.09.73sec), 5000m (18.46.6sec) were new World Records and establishing himself as the first human aged over 70 to run an accurately measured 10,000m in under 40 minutes – 38.49.25sec. Imbued with happy memories of the US Masters and a perfectly organised Championships; he admitted that this was one of his most memorable WMA Championships as he returned home with 5 gold and one silver (800) medal.

He died last month aged 99. And as an aside, he lost his sight as a POW in Japan and Changi. He was blind, and still kicked buttocks.

You should be fine

It’s definitely doable. Plenty of people have done it.

My guess is most people come up short. You have to stay healthy and motivated. I would hire a coach and make a 3-4 year plan. It can be done quicker.... but having several years might make it a more enjoyable and successful journey.

john_seattle wrote:

Is it possible to break 2:30 after Age 40?

On average, no. Sub 2:30 will usually put you in the top three for your age group at a race like Chicago with 45,000 runners.

While it might seem common based on the posters that read LRC, it is not. Chances are you won't.

Have a great day!

OK I agree with son of Jamin.... there's definitely a better chance of not going to sub 2:30 for a runner who has a PR of 2:55.

It's possible ....yes to run sub 2:30 at 40. But at any of the marathon Majors there's only a handful or maybe a dozen guys max under 2:30 that are over 40 years old.

At the US Champs at CIM last year, only five masters guys broke 2:30. At Chicago last year, only four broke 2:30. London, Boston and Berlin get between a half dozen to a dozen. So, I would guess that around a dozen masters guys break 2:30 in the US every year if you take out pros like Meb and Abdi.

There are two ways to break 2:30 after 40. Be a sub 2:20 guy in your 20s or 30s or train your brains out in your 30s to peak just as you hit 40. In about 20 years of running in a big city, I have never seen a pure amateur break 2:30. Everyone I know who has gone sub 2:30 was a Div I runner. The only exception to that was a retired pro triathlete. I have heard about people who have broken 2:30 who were pure amateurs, but it is exceedingly rare.

It's Kjell-Erik Ståhl.