Forums >General Running>Oh, to be young...
Still kicking
I am very impressed with the throngs of young people who show up for races these days. I don't remember the youth anywhere near the current numbers, in the late 70's early 80's running boom. Social media and news reports might be obsessed with the obese kids, but the reality is that there is no shortage of healthy fit kids. I ran a 42 minute 10K several weeks ago, and got my doors blown off at the finish by a 10 year old. I know, because he won his <10 age group. I'm 53 and can still whip some young whippersnappers, but it's getting harder and harder all the time.
I'm also on Athlinks and Strava
I coach high schoolers and that helps keep running fun.
Latent Runner
My running buddy was Walter Payton. We were the same speed and broke each other down in the MS 100 degree heat. I miss him. So much.
Sweetness is definitely missed.
Fat old man PRs:
The things that I recall about being a young runner include: the relative lack of injuries; the speed at which injuries heal when I did get them; the accessibility of that "extra gear" when I needed it.
When I trained, I knew my goal was to build up speed and stamina and pace in order to run a fast race somewhere down the line. Now it seems like my training goal is to not get injured because when that happens, there's little or no running. It is a completely different game. ...
I remember Nike Waffle trainers, $5 race entries, and often times our bib numbers were done with magic marker. Gun time was all we knew, and we could wear striped socks and no one cared. They always had race volunteers standing at every mile marker yelling out split times, and assholes would try to advance a few places in the finish chutes.
Are we there, yet?
Even the mid-40s look young to me now, and I could also keep up with a lot of the HS runners as I cranked out sub-19 5Ks and 1:27 HMs. To go back to my mid-20s a lot those HSers would have had a hard time keeping up with me. One of my proudest moments as a HS coach was when one of my runners finally beat me in a 5M race. Of course my 50th HS reunion is this fall. Inflation has hit race entry fees hard. I remember paying as little as 50 cents for some races and $3.00 the first time I ran Boston.
2024 Races:
03/09 - Livingston Oval Ultra 6-Hour, 22.88 miles
05/11 - D3 50K 05/25 - What the Duck 12-Hour
06/17 - 6 Days in the Dome 12-Hour.
and I think gas prices were around .35/gal. before the alleged "gas shortage". We used to gather all our change in our pockets, fill up the parent"s Ford Pinto ( $2200 out the door when brand new), drive around all night & still have 2x gas left in tank than when we first started. as far as weight I actually weigh less now than my HS days & with more muscle definition (although somehow I have more loose stuff around the midsection).
+1 on seeing more & more young kids in the races these days. from what I remember the most common race distance back in the 70"s was the 10k, very few races longer than that.
Isn't the recent running boom annoying?
I don't run NYRR races any more because of the crowds other than the 5th Avenue Mile and track races, which are split in to heats.
I had no confidence as a kid.
It's not surprising as II came last and third to last in my first 2 cross-country races at school. These weren't competitive races, they were against every boy in my grade.
My PT teacher told me I'd run the slowest 800 meters he'd ever seen. (amazingly I almost made the school team at 400 meters).
My HM PR from 22 to 44 years old was 2:08. 22 years later I ran 1:48, 3 months after starting to run again, and 1:39 at 49, the age equivalent of 1:28.
Certified Running CoachCrocked since 2013
What's recent? I know there's been a growing boom since Shorter, Rodgers, and Benoit Samuelson hit the scene with their big victories.
I mean this one.
http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml
http://running.competitor.com/2011/07/news/study-u-s-experiencing-second-running-boom_33297
http://espn.go.com/sports/endurance/story/_/id/8930050/endurance-sports-women-running-explosion
http://www.runningusa.org/state-of-the-sport-race-trends?returnTo=main
http://www.boomrunning.com/about
For example
Brooklyn half marathon entrants
1986 - 1,549
1990 - 1,253
1994 - 966
1998 - 1,311
2002 - 2,185
2006 - 3,999
2010 - 7,105
2012 - 14,197
2014 - 25,646
Who can forget mix tapes on their Walkmans? Hanteens, Heavy hands, and shoe lace weights? My first marathon cost $8, there were @ 50 runners, and it was broadcast live on local TV. This year the same race costs $85, and attracts 2000+ runners, and might get a 5 second blurb at the end of the local news.
Mmmmm...beer
That was a nice flashback. I never had that, I was overweight and basically lazy. I'll be 40 in Sept and I am in the absolute best shape of my life, I could run circles around my 18yo self. So like LL said, these are my glory years, and I'm going to make the most of them.
You're right, everyone should stay on the couch.
-Dave
My running blog
Goals | sub-18 5k | sub-3 marathon 2:56:46!!
No more marathons
Since I've got 20 years on you, my flashback takes a little longer, but it's basically the same. Never ran in my youth other than up and down a basketball court. Remember shaking my head in wonder at a HS classmate who ran all the time. Since we didn't have this internet stuff when I was first running back in the early 80s I never knew anything about his accomplishments after HS. When I began my second round of running in 2008 I looked him up and saw he ran the US Olympic Marathon trials in 1984 and has two top 10 finishes in the Pikes Peak Marathon.
Boston 2014 - a 33 year journey
Lordy, I hope there are tapes.
He's a leaker!
Feeling the growl again
I don't think that's what he meant.
There are certain aspects of the current road race situation which ARE annoying. Huge, overly crowded races that used to be enjoyable; double or triple registration fees; races which you used to be able to sign up for weeks in advance now filling 9-10 months out; a deliberate de-emphasis on competition and hard work.
One can find such things annoying without wishing everyone back on the couch.
"If you want to be a bad a$s, then do what a bad a$s does. There's your pep talk for today. Go Run." -- Slo_Hand
I am spaniel - Crusher of Treadmills
I don't think that's what he meant. There are certain aspects of the current road race situation which ARE annoying. Huge, overly crowded races that used to be enjoyable; double or triple registration fees; races which you used to be able to sign up for weeks in advance now filling 9-10 months out; a deliberate de-emphasis on competition and hard work. One can find such things annoying without wishing everyone back on the couch.
It is a slippery slope. To limit field sizes you have to do one or more of several things:
1. Set a limit - and you get the sell outs 9 months in advance
2. Raise the fees to make it economically unattractive
3. Impose qualifying standards
4. Saturate the market with alternative races (this won't do much for any of the "bucket" events)
All of these are currently in effect in one way or another and the participation and interest continues to rise. A good thing for the overall population, but an annoyance for the more serious of the recreational competitive runner.