BREAKING FIFTY

            Very few people in our society look forward to getting older. Oh, it's true, adolescents yearn to cross the 16, 18 and 21 age barriers which bring (or at least legitimize) a variety of privileges together with lessening of parental control. At the other end, some people look forward to a retirement date. But beyond the mid twenties most people view the thirty, forty and over birthdays with ever greater apprehension.

            Competitive runners seem to be a different species. How many people would gleefully look forward to turning forty or fifty (or sixty or seventy, for that matter)? In the running community, it's a common occurrence. Weird, but refreshing! After all, if there's no way to stop or slow down the passage of time, one might just as well develop a positive attitude toward it and enjoy some of the benefits.

            Short of a sex-change operation, the only way to enter a new race division is with increasing age. And then just look what happens! Look at the newly coined forty-year-old runners burning up the roadways. Look at all the other runners around San Diego who set national age-group records as they cross over into new divisions. Look at those new fifty- and sixty-year-old runners smile as they go for their awards. No wonder runners seem to enjoy getting older.

            Let's say, as a somewhat personal example, that you're a mid-forties male who has just begun to run a few road races. Boy, what a rude shock! Men in their forties can be real animals. Lots of them just have to prove that they've still got it by getting up there within sight of the race leaders. Not only do they run like late twenty- or thirty-year-old males, they look like them too. A beginner doesn't stand a chance. No matter how hard one works and improves, each passing year just brings another batch of still tougher opponents into the bottom of the division.

            Somehow the mid- to late-forties beginner must develop goals other than placing or road racing isn't going to be a very satisfying experience. One can run against the participants in general, develop specific rivalries or race against other division leaders. One can strive for personal records and work on pacing and form. If races are chosen carefully, there might even be an award now and then.

            After years of hard work, the fifty-year-old birthday gets closer. Now the runner starts paying more attention to the fifties division than the forties. Week after week, fifties runners with times over yours go up to get their awards. Firsts. Seconds. Thirds. Month after month, the time drags on. Medals. Plaques. Ribbons. Time seems to slow as the birthday approaches. Intervals and fartlek runs become part of the training regime. The weekly mileage builds.

            Finally, you're fifty. Now for a race! There's a Sri Chinmoy two-mile run the next day and it has an over fifty division. Bingo! First race; first place! The fact that there was only one over-fifty participant doesn't matter at all.

January 1987

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