Marathon: You Can Do It

I just read on british media that on 31st May 2008, the Queen of Britain,Her Majesty Queen Elezabeth II hosted a reception to celebrate centenary of 1908 London Summer Olympics.

It was at 1908 Olympics when the current marathon distance 42k or 26miles was established. The exact distances are  42.195km (26 miles 385 yards)

According to Modern Urban Legend“The marathon at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London was set to measure about 25 miles (40 km) and to start on ‘The Long Walk’ – a magnificent avenue leading up to Windsor Castle in the grounds of Windsor Great Park. The Princess of Wales wanted her children to watch the start of the race, so the start of the race was moved to the east lawn of Windsor Castle, increasing its length to 26 miles (42 km). The race was to finish at the Great White City Stadium in Shepherd’s Bush in London; however, Queen Alexandra insisted on having the best view of the finish; so, in the words of the official Olympic report, “385 yards were run on the cinder track to the finish, below the Royal Box”. The length then became 42.195 km (26 miles 385 yards or 26 ⁷?₃₂ miles)”

Those were the days the British Royal family held some powers. Today the King, the Queen, the Prince and the princes can only look back to those days with nostalgia.

The royal family added colour to the history of the marathon, for that I say “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!”

Tags: 10K Running, Boomers, Marathon, Marathon Running, Running

73-year-old Ed Whitlock completed 2007 Toronto full Marathon in –don’t read ahead–two hours, 54 minutes and 48 seconds. That’s right, a sub-three-hour marathon at 73 years old. That was 12 minutes better than my personal best.

At 27 years if you challenge me to race against a 73 year old man, I would tell you with a smile, bring him on. But the story of Ed has changed my bias against old people. In an age in which youth is worshipped Ed proves you can be old in number but strong physically. The dude is as fit as an olympic athlete. According to wikipedia, he holds the world record for runners over 75 years.

So, what can you do to be as fit and fast when you get to 75?

According to an interview with running times magazine Ed trains daily, he does (8-9 minute mile pace) two-hour sessions. When he was “younger” he used to do fairly intense one-hour workouts. Remember, “young” means in his 40s. He was a runner during his teen but stopped when he started working. He began running again during his 40s, and in 1979, at 48, he finished Hanover, German Marathon in a time of 2:31:23.

Happy running.

Tags: 10K Running, Boomers, Marathon, Marathon Running, Running