If you missed part 1 you can find it here, part 2 is here, part 3 is here.
When we started Poole parkrun the attendance was well below two hundred runners each week which made it easy to get to know everybody. As the London Marathon rolled around in the April, I was excited to follow runners like Liz Yelling, who was aiming at an Olympic place, and Steve Way, who’d run three consecutive 2hr19s. But it wasn’t just the elites who caught my interest, I’d got to know runners of all abilities and using the online tracking kept an eye on a variety of people who’d be running from over four hours through to those attempting to run sub-3.
One of the success stories was Dave Cartwright, who ran a sub-2hr55 marathon on his way to being the fastest man in the 60-64 age group that day. Footage of him crossing the finish line was doubly amusing as he was shown on BBC TV patting model Nell McAndrew on the shoulder who, despite being over twenty years younger, had finished only just ahead of him. Now in his seventies, Dave is still running round Poole parkrun in under twenty-two minutes and completing Blackmore Vale half marathon in under 1hr40. These times are fantastic to most people and yet, they’re not close to the times of the best in his age group as we shall see.
Recently two V55s, Andrew Ridley and Duncan Cooper came 8th and 9th in a field of over seven hundred runners. Their times were 16:27 and 16:35 respectively. Andrew’s age-graded time equates to 95% but his efforts also give insight into how slow decline can be. He set his Poole parkrun PB of 16:15 having only just turned fifty, yet here he is seven years later running only twelve seconds slower. Barely two seconds decline per year. I know Andrew trains very hard to keep his speed intact for 800m racing.
Age group world records for 5000m
| Time | Athlete | Date | Time | Athlete | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Record | 12:35 | Joshua Cheptegei | 14-Aug-20 | 14:07 | Letesenbet Gidey | 07-Oct-20 | |
| V35 | 12:54 | Bernard Lagat | 22-Jul-11 | 14:34 | Edith Masai | 02-Jun-06 | |
| V40 | 13:07 | Bernard Lagat | 20-Aug-16 | 15:05 | Joanne Pavey | 05-Jun-14 | |
| V45 | 14:24 | Lucien Rault | 19-Jun-82 | 15:56 | Nicole Leveque | 01-Jun-96 | |
| V50 | 14:53 | Sean Wade | 25-Mar-16 | 16:51 | Gitte Karlshøj | 23-Jun-09 | |
| V55 | 15:30 | Keith Bateman | 05-Jan-11 | 17:29 | Silke Schmidt | 27-Jun-15 | |
| V60 | 15:56 | Yoshitsugu Iwanaga | 14-Nov-20 | 17:59 | Silke Schmidt | 20-Sep-19 | |
| V65 | 16:39 | Derek Turnbull | 13-Mar-92 | 20:08 | Kathryn Martin | 28-Oct-16 | |
| V70 | 18:16 | Ron Robertson | 09-Jul-11 | 20:56 | Angela Copson | 25-Jun-17 | |
| V75 | 19:07 | Ed Whitlock | 23-Jul-06 | 23:31 | Lavinia Petrie | 28-Apr-19 | |
| V80 | 20:20 | Jose Vicente Rioseco Lopez | 04-Sep-21 | 25:40 | Yoko Nakano | 12-Sep-18 | |
| V85 | 24:04 | Ed Whitlock | 30-Jul-16 | 27:38 | Yoko Nakano | 23-Nov-21 | |
| V90 | 30:00 | Yoshimitsu Miyauchi | 20-Sep-14 | — | |||
| V95 | 39:43 | Antonio Nacca | 04-May-19 | — |
Age group world records for the 10,000m
| Time | Athlete | Date | Time | Athlete | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Record | 26:11 | Joshua Cheptegei | 07-Oct-20 | 29:01 | Letesenbet Gidey | 08-Jun-21 | |
| V35 | 26:51 | Haile Gebrselassie | 24-May-08 | 30:53 | Joanne Pavey | 03-Aug-12 | |
| V40 | 27:49 | Bernard Lagat | 01-May-16 | 31:25 | Sinead Diver | 28-Sep-19 | |
| V45 | 29:44 | Kevin Castille | 17-Mar-17 | 32:34 | Evy Palm | 04-Sep-88 | |
| V50 | 30:49 | Sean Wade | 01-Apr-16 | 35:06 | Fiona Matheson | 16-Oct-11 | |
| V55 | 31:52 | Keith Bateman | 26-Mar-11 | 36:47 | Sally Gibbs | 11-Nov-19 | |
| V60 | 33:40 | Yoshitsugu Iwanaga | 28-Nov-20 | 37:58 | Mariko Yugeta | 14-Nov-20 | |
| V65 | 34:42 | Derek Turnbull | 15-Mar-92 | 41:40 | Angela Copson | 05-Aug-12 | |
| V70 | 38:04 | Ed Whitlock | 09-Jul-01 | 44:25 | Angela Copson | 28-Jul-17 | |
| V75 | 39:25 | Ed Whitlock | 21-Jul-06 | 50:01 | Melitta Czerwenka-Nagel | 28-Aug-05 | |
| V80 | 42:40 | Ed Whitlock | 09-Jul-11 | 51:47 | Yoko Nakano | 06-May-18 | |
| V85 | 51:08 | Ed Whitlock | 12-Aug-16 | 1:26:15 | Vladylena Kokina | 21-Sep-14 | |
| V90 | 1:09:28 | Gordon Porteous | 17-Oct-04 | — |
Age group world records for the marathon
| Time | Athlete | Date | Time | Athlete | Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Record | 2:01:39 | Eliud Kipchoge | 16-Sep-18 | 2:14:04 | Brigid Kosgei | 13-Oct-19 | |
| V35 | 2:03:59 | Haile Gebrselassie | 28-Sep-08 | 2:19:19 | Irina Mikitenko | 28-Sep-08 | |
| V40 | 2:06:25 | Ayad Lamdassem | 24-Feb-22 | 2:19:52 | Helalia Johannes | 06-Dec-20 | |
| V45 | 2:14:23 | Bernard Lagat | 29-Feb-20 | 2:28:34 | Catherine Bertone | 23-Sep-17 | |
| V50 | 2:19:29 | Titus Mamabolo | 20-Jul-91 | 2:31:05 | Tatyana Pozdnyakova | 06-Mar-05 | |
| V55 | 2:25:56 | Piet van Alphen | 19-Apr-86 | 2:50:40 | Jenny Hitchings | 03-Nov-19 | |
| V60 | 2:30:02 | Tommy Hughes | 25-Oct-20 | 2:52:13 | Mariko Yugeta | 31-Jan-21 | |
| V65 | 2:41:57 | Derek Turnbull | 12-Apr-92 | 3:07:51 | Kimi Ushiroda | 15-Dec-19 | |
| V70 | 2:54:48 | Ed Whitlock | 26-Sep-04 | 3:24:48 | Jeannie Rice | 29-Sep-19 | |
| V75 | 3:04:54 | Ed Whitlock | 15-Apr-07 | 3:53:42 | Yoko Nakano | 23-Nov-12 | |
| V80 | 3:15:54 | Ed Whitlock | 16-Oct-11 | 4:11:45 | Yoko Nakano | 26-Feb-17 | |
| V85 | 3:56:38 | Ed Whitlock | 16-Oct-16 | 5:14:26 | Betty Jean McHugh | 09-Dec-12 | |
| V90 | 6:46:34 | Ernest Van Leeuwen | 06-Mar-05 | 8:53:08 | Mavis Lindgren | 28-Sep-97 |
Notes on Masters world records
All data was updated from Wikipedia in mid-June 2022. The aim is not to create a comprehensive set of records but to give readers an indication of what is possible. I will periodically update these when I can.
Big Red Running 