I was a 400m Hurdler with terrible form but fast enough to run internationally. When I turned 40 I started chasing Guido's world records from 1983 to 1989. I won 6 World Championship races [3 in 400m H, 1 in 400m, and 2 in 800m, but every time my time was slower than Guido's was at the same age. We were both basically 400m and 400m hurdlers. I figured that by the time I reached the next age level, I would finally beat Guido's world record in the event. It never happened. Now at 75 I can barely beat 2 minutes for the 400m, because my knees are gone. I have run in competitions continuously from 1957 to 2018. Little old ladies jog by me know, pushing a shopping cart with their husband in it.
How Guido's has stayed basically sound enough to race and run fast times is amazing. I know or strongly believe none of those times were perfomance-enhanced as there are outliers that have no need to dope and no interest to cheat. Guido's fall off in race times was similar to mine until I reached 1990 at age 47 when I tackled the 1500m as an experiment and I won my last major championship [U. S. Masters Championships at Indianapolis].
My eyes were opened wide when at my first Masters Track and Field Championships in 1983 in Puerto Rico, I watched a blind runner tethered to a teammate run sub 70 in the 65-69 age bracket. I thought it was like watching paint dry, but then again he beat most of the field or all [I can't recall]. In Eugene in 1989 at the Championships, I noticed that it was impossible to tell the age of a woman from behind. They all looked like they were in their 20's or 30's. But once they turned around, the terrible price the sun took from all those years of running gave a true age.
