Tag: Masters world records

The Ageing Runner – Part 4 Long distance

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

TimeAthleteDateTimeAthleteDate
World Record12:35Joshua Cheptegei14-Aug-20 14:07Letesenbet Gidey07-Oct-20
V3512:54Bernard Lagat22-Jul-11 14:34Edith Masai02-Jun-06
V4013:07Bernard Lagat20-Aug-16 15:05Joanne Pavey05-Jun-14
V4514:24Lucien Rault19-Jun-82 15:56Nicole Leveque01-Jun-96
V5014:53Sean Wade25-Mar-16 16:51Gitte Karlshøj23-Jun-09
V5515:30Keith Bateman05-Jan-11 17:29Silke Schmidt27-Jun-15
V6015:56Yoshitsugu Iwanaga14-Nov-20 17:59Silke Schmidt20-Sep-19
V6516:39Derek Turnbull13-Mar-92 20:08Kathryn Martin28-Oct-16
V7018:16Ron Robertson09-Jul-11 20:56Angela Copson25-Jun-17
V7519:07Ed Whitlock23-Jul-06 23:31Lavinia Petrie28-Apr-19
V8020:20Jose Vicente
Rioseco Lopez		04-Sep-21 25:40Yoko Nakano12-Sep-18
V8524:04Ed Whitlock30-Jul-16 27:38Yoko Nakano23-Nov-21
V9030:00Yoshimitsu Miyauchi20-Sep-14 —
V9539:43Antonio Nacca04-May-19 —

Age group world records for the 10,000m

TimeAthleteDateTimeAthleteDate
World Record26:11Joshua Cheptegei07-Oct-20 29:01Letesenbet Gidey08-Jun-21
V3526:51Haile Gebrselassie24-May-08 30:53Joanne Pavey03-Aug-12
V4027:49Bernard Lagat01-May-16 31:25Sinead Diver28-Sep-19
V4529:44Kevin Castille17-Mar-17 32:34Evy Palm04-Sep-88
V5030:49Sean Wade01-Apr-16 35:06Fiona Matheson16-Oct-11
V5531:52Keith Bateman26-Mar-11 36:47Sally Gibbs11-Nov-19
V6033:40Yoshitsugu Iwanaga28-Nov-20 37:58Mariko Yugeta14-Nov-20
V6534:42Derek Turnbull15-Mar-92 41:40Angela Copson05-Aug-12
V7038:04Ed Whitlock09-Jul-01 44:25Angela Copson28-Jul-17
V7539:25Ed Whitlock21-Jul-06 50:01Melitta
Czerwenka-Nagel		28-Aug-05
V8042:40Ed Whitlock09-Jul-11 51:47Yoko Nakano06-May-18
V8551:08Ed Whitlock12-Aug-16 1:26:15Vladylena Kokina21-Sep-14
V901:09:28Gordon Porteous17-Oct-04 —

Age group world records for the marathon

TimeAthleteDateTimeAthleteDate
World Record2:01:39Eliud Kipchoge16-Sep-18 2:14:04Brigid Kosgei13-Oct-19
V352:03:59Haile Gebrselassie28-Sep-08 2:19:19Irina Mikitenko28-Sep-08
V402:06:25Ayad Lamdassem24-Feb-22 2:19:52Helalia Johannes06-Dec-20
V452:14:23Bernard Lagat29-Feb-20 2:28:34Catherine Bertone23-Sep-17
V502:19:29Titus Mamabolo20-Jul-91 2:31:05Tatyana Pozdnyakova06-Mar-05
V552:25:56Piet van Alphen19-Apr-86 2:50:40Jenny Hitchings03-Nov-19
V602:30:02Tommy Hughes25-Oct-20 2:52:13Mariko Yugeta31-Jan-21
V652:41:57Derek Turnbull12-Apr-92 3:07:51Kimi Ushiroda15-Dec-19
V702:54:48Ed Whitlock26-Sep-04 3:24:48Jeannie Rice29-Sep-19
V753:04:54Ed Whitlock15-Apr-07 3:53:42Yoko Nakano23-Nov-12
V803:15:54Ed Whitlock16-Oct-11 4:11:45Yoko Nakano26-Feb-17
V853:56:38Ed Whitlock16-Oct-16 5:14:26Betty Jean McHugh09-Dec-12
V906:46:34Ernest Van Leeuwen06-Mar-05 8:53:08Mavis Lindgren28-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.

The Ageing Runner – Part 3 Middle distance

If you missed part 1 you can find it here, part 2 is here.

Typically the 800m and 1,500m are the commonly run middle-distance races, but I’ve used the mile because it’s more relatable for most runners than the 1,500. This article also includes times for 3,000m which is on the cusp of being middle distance. For elite men, it takes around 7½ minutes and puts them on the edge of their aerobic limits whereas for women it’s almost a minute slower. But one reason why I’ve included them is to have three balanced articles containing records for three distances!

With all the women’s records from here onwards, many of the older age group times have good potential to be broken. Some of the over-ninety records don’t even exist. It was only in the 1980s that women began to compete at Olympics and World Championships in the longer distances and so many of the older age category records are held by women who started running later in life.

Katharine Switzer still running at Boston in her seventies

Of course there were women who ran distance before the eighties but they were fewer and far between. Katharine Switzer, who was the first woman to run the Boston marathon, was born in 1947 and opened the door for other women at the distance. In fact, many of the pioneers are younger and barely turning sixty at the time of writing.

The consequence of all this is the older age groups records have never been seriously trained for, or contested, by lifetime runners. To an extent this is also true of some of the older male records as few kept going past seventy but certainly with the women’s records we can expect some of their records to fall as the generation that started running distance in the late sixties are now hitting their seventies and the ones who followed them will have benefitted from increased participation and training.

Age group world records for 800m

TimeAthleteDateTimeAthleteDate
World Record1:40.9David Rudisha09-Aug-121:53.8Jarmila Kratochvilova26-Jul-83
V351:43.4Johnny Gray16-Aug-951:56.5Lyubov Gurina30-Jul-94
V401:48.1Tony Whiteman12-Jul-141:59.3Yekaterina Podkopayeva30-Jun-94
V451:49.9Tony Whiteman19-Aug-172:02.8Yekaterina Podkopayeva26-Jun-98
V501:58.6Nolan Shaheed13-May-002:12.5Eva Trost03-Aug-18
V552:02.9Peter
Oberliessen		07-May-162:19.6Anne Gilshinan08-Jun-19
V602:08.6Nolan Shaheed23-Apr-112:33.1Lidia Zentner14-Sep-13
V652:14.3Earl Fee18-Jul-952:39.6Sabra Harvey31-Oct-16
V702:20.5Earl Fee17-Jun-992:50.7Sabra Harvey19-Jul-19
V752:30.6Jose Vicente
Rioseco Lopez		18-Jun-163:07.3Jeanne Daprano23-Oct-11
V802:41.6Jose Vicente
Rioseco Lopez		30-Apr-213:25.8Yolande Marchal10-Oct-20
V853:06.7David Carr28-Jun-173:58.2Yoko Nakano23-Oct-21
V903:34.9Earl Fee22-Jun-195:01.3Melitta
Czerwenka-Nagel		30-Sep-20
V954:51.4Antonio Nacca09-Jun-199:30.5Hollyce Kirkland10-Jun-17

Age group world records for the mile

TimeAthleteDateTimeAthleteDate
World Record3:43Hicham
El Guerrouj		07-Jul-99 4:12Sifan Hassan12-Jul-19
V353:51Bernard Lagat06-Aug-11 4:17Maricica Puica21-Aug-85
V403:58Bernard Lagat25-Jul-15 4:24Yekaterina Podkopayeva09-Jun-93
V454:10Davide Raineri05-Sep-20 4:48Yekaterina Podkopayeva13-Sep-97
V504:20Brad Barton31-May-19 4:58Nicole
Weijling-Dissel		27-Aug-17
V554:35Keith Bateman18-Dec-10 5:08Anne Gilshinan07-Aug-19
V604:48Håkan Eriksson28-Aug-21 5:40Lesley Chaplin Hinz14-Jul-18
V654:56Derek Turnbull29-Feb-92 5:55Angela Copson19-Jul-15
V705:20Joop Rüter11-Jul-03 6:38Sharon Gerl06-May-18
V755:42Ed Whitlock28-Jul-06 6:58Jeanne Daprano21-Jul-12
V805:57Jose Vicente
Rioseco Lopez		18-Jul-21 7:35Yolande Marchal12-Oct-19
V856:40Manuel
Alonso Domingo		22-May-21 10:55Blanche Cummings20-Jun-15
V909:43Gunnar Linde17-Feb-19 12:49Heather Lee11-Jan-20
V9511:56Antonio Nacca07-Apr-19 13:46Colleen Millman07-May-22

Age group world records for 3000m

TimeAthleteDateTimeAthleteDate
World Record7:21Daniel Komen01-Sep-96 8:06Wang Junxia13-Sep-93
V357:29Bernard Lagat29-Aug-10 8:28Maricica Puica07-Sep-85
V407:43Bernard Lagat14-Jul-15 9:03Nuria Fernandez24-Jun-17
V458:16Vyacheslav Shabunin17-Jul-15 9:17Yekaterina Podkopayeva22-Jun-97
V508:41Christian Geffray07-Jul-04 9:47Gitte Karlshøj19-May-09
V558:57Keith Bateman13-Nov-10 10:04Silke Schmidt10-Jul-15
V609:21Yoshitsugu Iwanaga26-Sep-20 10:29Silke Schmidt22-Aug-19
V659:47Derek Turnbull08-Feb-92 11:43Kathryn Martin03-Sep-17
V7010:42Siem Herlaar02-Jul-99 12:13Angela Copson01-Sep-18
V7511:10Ed Whitlock25-Jul-06 13:56Yoko Nakano21-Sep-12
V8011:56Jose Vicente
Rioseco Lopez		04-Sep-21 14:27Yoko Nakano27-Oct-17
V8514:13Julian Bernal Medina20-Feb-05 16:39Yoko Nakano23-Oct-21
V9016:42Yoshimitsu Miyauchi19-Oct-14 —
V9522:46Antonio Nacca16-Dec-18 —

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.