No “Old Fool”: 88 Years Old and Still Running

In the sport, physical activity, and aging literature, much attention has been given to the importance of physical activity and sport involvement for the elderly. Most of the literature, however, has focused on the continuity of physical activity among older adults. The purpose of this study was to extend the understanding of older sport participants by conducting a case study of Max Springer, a male, White master runner (88 years old). We assumed that continuity in sport would represent a primary adaptive strategy for coping with the aging process. In addition to two in-depth interviews with Max, the authors interviewed various other “participants” regarding their perceptions of Max as an older runner. From deductive analysis of the interview material, the following themes emerged as figural to Max’s experience as an older runner: tradition of always being physically active, I’m not an athlete, being of senior age, meaning and philosophy of running, and significance of social support.

Accelerated Decline in Running Performance in a Master Runner with a History of a Large Volume of Training and Racing

The aim of this study was to measure the change in running performance in a runner from age 27–64 years. During this time the runner had a history of high-volume training and racing. The change in his average running speed over 10-, 21.1-, 42.2-, and 90-km races was compared with the changes in the age-group records for each distance. He trained an average of 4,051 ± 1,762 km/year and ran 16,604 km during races. His training load reached a peak of 7,596 km/year at the age of 33. His rate of decline in running performance was higher than the expected age decline at 47 years for 10-km, 47 years for 21.1-km, 40 years for the 42.2-km, and 48 years for 90-km races. Decreases in performance with increasing age could be explained by reduced training volume, or, alternatively, high volumes of training and racing might accelerate the normal age-related decrements in running performance.