William J. Anderson, 1926-
Roger Brockenbrough, 1934-
At age 73, he and his wife traveled from California to South Carolina via their motor home with Paul running along behind the vehicle. He ran a little over 26 miles per day for 122 days straight. (Mayhew, p. 66)
At age 55 (in 1972) he came out of retirement to set an age-group world record of 11.6 seconds in the 100 meter dash. "For most of the next 27 years he set age-group records in the 100 and 200 meter runs - the last being set at age 82." (Mayhew, p. 75) At age 74 he beat his world record from 7 years earlier, from 13 flat to 12.91
At the age of 58, when 30 lbs. overweight, he decided to give running a try. At age 80 he achieved about 70 national age-group records from the 800 meter to marathon distances. At age 78 he ran a 3:38:59 marathon. In 1995 (age 75) he ran a marathon in 3:18:10 in Chicago. (Mayhew, p. 87)
At age 60 he attempted his first Ironman triathlon (Hawaii, 1982). He was a DNF (did not finish) since he suffered a broken chain and flat tire in the middle of the 112-mile bike leg: missed bike cutoff. Each year from 1983-1988 and 1991-2001 he sucessfully finished Ironman Hawaii. At age 79 (2001) he was now the oldest man to finish an Ironman (until McKeague in 2005).
At age 55 she retired from her nursing career, and began to run. Her husband cajoled her in 1978 (now age 57) to run a 10 mile race. She finished last. At age 59 she entered a Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. At age 66 she completed the Grand Slam of 100 mile runs. At age 68 inducted into USA Track and Field Hall of Fame. At age 72 she ran the Marathon des Sables, a 145 mile stage race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco. Two weeks later she finished the Eco Challenge in Utah, a 370 mile multi-day race. In 2002 set a world record at 50 km (6:45:23). She has now completed 54 marathons and 130 ultra-marathons.
Lived in England for 50 years. At age 63 (1987) began his running. That year he ran 37:42 in a 10k race. In 1994 (age 69) broke 3 hours in the Clackamas River Canyon Marathon. In 1995 (age 70) ran 1:24:05 for the half-marathon. That year he ran 3:01:35 in the London Marathon, and for the mile, he set an age-group (age 70) world record with a time of 5:34. In 1997 (age 72) ran 19:26:98 in the 5k run, Hayward Field Master's Classic, Eugene, Ore, and for the half-marathon, he ran 1:25:24. In 2002 (age 77) he became the oldest runner to break 3:20 in the marathon. In 2005, (age 80) ran 6:38.3 for mile run, Canby High School, Canby, Oregon.
At age 57 he was so exhausted from a ski trip, he spent the whole next day recovering. This was his wake-up call.
At age 59 ran his first marathon, 3 hours, 50 minutes. At age 60, he took 1st place AG in the 1985 Chicago Marathon in 3:18:00 , lopping 32 minutes off his Personal Record. In 1997 at age 72 he raced Ironman Hawaii for the first time; time 14 hours 50 min, he took 1st place AG, 70-74. In 2005 at age 80 he was a finisher at Ironman Hawaii (16:21:55).
At age 62 (1988) Bill competed in Prescott, Arizona, in the Skull Valley Road Race- 45 Miles. He took 1st Place- Master Division. His other awards include the following: 1989 United States National Senior Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri- 1989 (age 63) Placed (2) Third places, (1) fourth place and (1) sixth place, out of 4 races; 1989 Oklahoma State Senior Games in Concord/San Francisco, CA 1st Place Gold Medal in time trial- 2nd Place Silver. 1989 World Corporate Games 1989 Concord/San Francisco, CA 1st Place Gold Medal in time trial, 2nd place Silver Medal in road race. At age 64 (1990) San Diego Senior Olympics- Gold Medalist in time trial. 1990 Arizona State Senior Olympics- Gold Medalist in Phoenix, AZ, 1990, 20 mile bicycle race. Arizona State Senior Olympics- Gold Medalist in Phoenix, AZ ,1991 (age 65) 10 mile bicycle race. 2004 (age 78) rode from the Canadian border (at Sweet Grass) to Mexico. At age 81 (2007) rode around the perimeter of Arizona, 2000 miles, 15 days.
At age 49, in 1978 she won the Runner's World Nurmi Award for being the best USA woman ultra-marathoner. At age 50 she set a US record in the 50 mile run (7 hours 10 min; 8:37 pace). At age 57 she set a 24 hour track record of 110.5 miles. At age 65 she won the 5k championship, Carlsbad, Calif. She has run in more than 100 marathons and more than
70 ultra-marathons.
At age 67 (1997) he completed the Hawaiian Ironman. He works 50 hours a week as an engineer, spends time with his wife and two sons, and still trains up to 27 hours a week. His Ironman times are 1997 (age 67) -14:22:03; 1999 (age 69) - 13:37:51; and 2000 (age 70)- 13:13:32. "As you can clearly see, his times are getting better with age, as attested to by the fact that his 2000 race at age 70 is his best ever." (Fitter after 50: forever changing our beliefs about aging, p. 27)
At age 55 (in 1985) she competed in her first triathlon. At age 56 she completed Ironman Hawaii in 13 hr 23 min. She also completed that event at age 60, age 65 (in 1995), and age 70 (in 2000). "And her 2000 time was about 14 minutes faster than her 1995 score ..." (Ed Mayhew, Fitter after 50, p. 27). After her 2000 Ironman she relaxed by taking a sight seeing trip across the United States along with her bike club, managing an easy 3200 mile bike ride.
After Norm stopped running at age 20 (in 1952) he did no exercise until 1968 when he joined a jogging club. At first he could not run around a city block without stopping to walk and recover his breath. At age 50 he won the National Masters 20k in a time of 1:05:50 (about 5:20 per mile). No other road racer over the age of 50 has won an overall national championship. He did it 8 times, from 1983 to 1987 "Norm achieved the rare satisfaction of recording his set of lifetime personal records in 1983-84 when he was over 51." -Roger Robinson. (Source: Fitter after 50, p. 38)
At age 41 (in 1975) he was 60 pounds overweight and a smoker. His doctor gave him a wake-up call. Change or else! He changed his diet, quit smoking, and began to run. In the next 21 years he completed 1000 races of which 250 were ultra-marathons. When he was 51 he won the Gator 24 hour run completing 116 miles. At age 52 he set an American record of 115 miles in the Santa Rosa 24 hour run. Instead of being lean, he resembled a wrestler. (Fitter after 50, p. 22)
Prior to age 50, the word "fitness" was foreign to him. Then at age 51 he was inspired by watching his son race. So he tried a small triathlon and won. He now trains weekly with up to 10,000 yards of swimming, 150 miles of biking, and 30 miles of running. (Ed Mayhew, Fitness after 50: forever changing our beliefs about aging)
At 51 (1989) he entered his first triathlon. In 2000 he went to Nice, Italy and competed in the World Triathlon Championships and won first place trophy. That year Triathlon Magazine named him the 2000 Male Amateur Athlete of the Year "beating all the fantastic 20, 30, and 40 year old triathletes". (Ed Mayhew, Fitness after 50, p. 28). His weekly training involves 8 miles of swimming, 200 miles of biking, and 40 miles of running.
At age 30 he was at the peak of his drinking and drugging days. He was fat (255 lbs) and smoked 2 to 3 packs a day. Then he watched his father die of a heart attack. Thus, in 1964 he began to run. He says "When I first began running, I was still drinking, smoking some cigarettes, and doing quite a bit of marijuana." All this self-imposed sustance abuse gradually ended. At the age of 54, in the year 2000, he ran and completed 200 marathons. He was known as America's Marathon Man. (Ed Mayhew, Fitter after 50: forever changing our beliefs about aging, p. 53)
Since 1976 he has run a minimum of eight miles a day. This is about 25 years without missing a day. Most mornings he got up at 4:45 am and ran 12 to 15 miles.
At age 54 he was an overweight couch potato on high blood pressure medicine. He wanted to do something with his life. So he decided to give running a try. His first run was late at night so that no one could see him. He jogged a quarter mile, then had to stop and walk. But he persisted. Then at age 61 he set the 60-64 age group marathon record for the U.S. Corporate Athletic Association with a time of 3:08:30. His personal best in the 5k is 18:26 and for the 10k his person best is 38:54. (Ed Mayhew, Fitter after 50: forever changing our beliefs about aging, p. 40.)
At age 57 (2006) Nolan broke three U.S. records (Indoor 1500m 4:26.75, Indoor 3000m 8:54.73 & outdoor mile) and one World Record (Indoor 1500m). For the age-group 50+, he holds 800m world record (1:58.65), and mile world record (4:27.9). For the 55-59 age-group, he won 6 USATF National Masters Championship titles. In 2007 (age 58) at the Carlsbad 5000, he ran an astonishing 16:31. Source: see his training: http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/interview/shaheed.html Also at age 58, he ran the Fountain of Youth Invitational Mile, Canby, OR, and set an American male age-55 record [4:42.7].
In all the following races, Richard pushed his quadraplegic son Ricky, as Richard ran. In 1980 (age 39) he ran the Marine Corps Marathon, in Washington, D.C., 2:45:00, and qualified for Boston Marathon. In 1985 (age 44) tried his first triathlon, in which he came in second-to-last in the competition. At age 51 (1992) he biked and ran across the USA; 3,735 miles in 45 consecutive days. At age 54 (1995) he biked from Pittsburgh, PA to Washington D.C. with "Axa World Ride 95". In 1998 (age 57) he ran the Boston Marathon in 3:03:43. At age 59, his son Ricky decided he wanted to do a triathlon. So Rich would have to "carry" his son on a raft as Rich swam 2.4 miles, then immediately after, bike the rugged 112 miles with Ricky on the handlebars, then run a full marathon with Ricky in a wheeled carrier. Rich did it. In 2004 (age 63) he ran the Boston Marathon in 3:44:15. Dick and Rick have completed 21 Boston Marathons. At the 2001 Boston classic Dick pushed Rick to a 3:19:04
People Over 50 Who Inspire Others to Exercise