Visitor the Sunday

Visitor from Alabama joining us this Sunday

I want to give you a heads-up that we will have a visitor from Alabama this weekend His name is Prince and he is looking to do 20 miles.   He is a team in training running coach and will be happy to run anything between a 7:30 and 12:00 minute pace.  That is an unusually flexible speed range! 

 

If any of you are planning to start early, please give me a head up and I will contact him. I also may contact Teresa Williams to see in Prince might join her group.

 

Additional Postings on Elderly runners age categories

Posted below are the additional comments received regarding the fairness of lumping four age groups into one for elderly runners.  I must say our exchange of ideas has been absolutely fascinating for me! It brings to mind the old adage:  "Be careful what you ask for!"

 

Kirsty: 

I agree with you that the races should continue the 5 year age categories through the eldest racer.  These individuals need to be recognized and rewarded for their motivation and abilities.

 

Jake:

I'm amazed at what I've seen, so far. goodness gracious.

Mat: (Excerpts)
I want to look at the differences in 5k race performance based on the participant's age.  In general i want to quantify the slowing experienced with aging and what that means for the age group classifications.  So if you statistically will run a 1min slower 5k at 50 compared to 40 there is an age group classification to account for that.  If there is a comparable change between 70 and 80, but no age group split, than that would indicate an inappropriate lumping of those two age groups together.

 

(I have sent Mat some info.  He will find that the lumped groups are mathematically quite inappropriate.)

 

Carolyne

My 2 cents worth: I do not think the "award" or medal is what is important for older runners. I believe the age groups should be scored in 5 year increments regardless of age so you can easily see where you rank among your peers.  Each year in age compounds the ability to manage injuries and age-associated issues and it is important to recognize each age group fairly with or without a medal or award.  Perhaps the age groups could be scored and awards only given if a certain number of entrants are in each category.

 

Jack