Road Races at Age 70+


There may be certain negatives to reaching age 70, but it's also a great time to consider entering road races again. The 70-and-over age category has far fewer entrants, mainly by attrition, so the chances for a high placement within this age group are greater than ever before.

June 2009: I ran the Chatham Harbor Run once more, with high hopes for a top-three finish in my new age group, 70-79 which, in the past, has had as few as no entrants at all and a maximum of five. Training included some serious hill-work back in Newton, so that the hills on the Chatham course would be less tough. In the race, I achieved my personal objective of coming in at under an hour, or 59:43. But wouldn't you know it - this time there were nine entrants in the 70-79 age category, so it meant finishing fifth (See 2009 results). I must have been too swift for my personal photographer, so the picture shows my back with the butterflies on the shirt as I sprint to the finish line. Click on the thumbnail images at the right to enlarge.

Pinning on number 130.

The finish is near.

November 2009: Toward the end of summer I discovered that there was going to be a 13.1 mile road race within Newton, the Chilly Half Marathon. How many 70-and-over runners are likely to sign up for this race? Besides, it's practically in my back yard, at one point passing within 0.1 mile of our house. What to do but to register immediately? When I started running parts of it, I found that some sections were fairly hilly, so that this would require some serious training. Living so close to the course allowed me to run all of it a few times, starting at the 6-mile mark and then finishing there. The organizers posted lots of information so by race time I knew that there was only one other entrant in the 70-and-over age category, meaning an assured finish of at least second place. And that's what it was - second place in 2:19:19, and an award to go with that, a $10 gift card at Whole Foods. See age group awards. Click on the thumbnail images at the right to enlarge.

Beginning of the race (no, I'm not leading)

End of the race (it feels so good to stop)

June 2010: This time it's a 10k road race on June 13 right here in Newton. When I pick up my race number, I ask how many other entrants there are in the 70 and over age category; I find out from Amy of the helpful staff that there's only one other entrant.

On race day it's gray, damp and moderate temperature. Full of hope I run the race in 1:03:20.3 (yes, it's that precise at the end) only to find out that it's good for second place again. The first place finisher had an unearthly time of 50:23.0 . Still, not bad, as I pick up my award (the first-place guy doesn't show - we'll find out why).

Next day the results and lots of pictures from the race are posted. With some curiosity I look for the first-place finisher by the bib number 470, and see that he's probably the best-looking 72-year-old I've ever seen. In fact, he looks like someone in his twenties! A bit of googling shows that to be so. My guess is that there was a data entry error that turned a birth year of say, 1987, into 1937.

I turn to my good friend Amy to help fix the mix-up, and some days later, it is in fact corrected - Number 470 is now listed with age 31. And so I did actually finish first! Look for 319th place in the over-all race results, at Newton 10k results.

Beginning of the race (no, I'm not leading)

Closing in on the finish line

November 2010: It's time again for the Chilly Half-Marathon (13.1 miles) in Newton. I registered very early, and received race number 25 this time. It's a tough, hilly course, so I train often over a particularly hilly section during summer and fall. Sometime before the race I found out in a very roundabout way that last year's winner in my age group (when I finished second) won't be competing this year.

On race day, the temperature is cool and pleasant, and the race goes well. The hills take their toll, but I come in at 2:19:00 (adjusted for crossing the starting line), and then look for the posting of finishing times. I see the 1 for first place in the 70-and-over age category on the list! Then it's just waiting a while for the awards ceremony and a well-deserved prize.

In the 2010 Chilly Half-Marathon results, look for 789th place out of 904. Click on the thumbnail images below to enlarge.

A serious runner near the start

At 5.5 miles, after a water break, close to home (Harvard Street)

Race done - with my support group

June 5, 2011: The Newton 10k road race again. I had trained well, but a 10-day vacation trip to London seemed to take the edge off that - two runs in the week before the race felt pretty poor. Race day was perfect, sunny and low 50's, and the run went surprisingly well. When the race results were posted, I was first in the 70-99 age group and, in fact, the only one in it; in short, I was the oldest person in the race. The time was 1:03:14.7 (chip time), good for position 361 out of 438 (see race results). And the prize was a $50 gift card!

Nov. 13, 2011: Ran the Newton Chilly Half-Marathon, for the third year in a row, with another low number (#43) for having registered early. With another fine day for a race, I ran comfortably and finished in 2:25:39.1 (love the precision of chip timing!), slower than I had hoped for. When I looked at the results, I saw myself listed in 9th place in the 60-and-over category. Well, I thought, maybe they changed from having a separate 70-and-over, and went home. I looked back at the race announcement and, sure enough, they had shown a 70-and-over category there. I got in touch with the race organizer, who agreed, and so I did get a corrected listing of first in 70-and-over as well as some prizes. That now makes it four straight races placing first in the 70-and-over age group (albeit against limited on-road competition). For the results, see 2011 Chilly Half-Marathon.

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Last updated 1/11/2012

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