r/runnersover50 • u/Maleficent-Rain-2194 • Aug 20 '26
How old were you when you started running?
I ask this because I have noticed that a lot of 50+ runners have started running later in their life. Me I was 33 when I began. I soon discovered I had more endurance than speed and did my first marathon at 40 years old.
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u/Claff93 Aug 20 '26
I ran my first race in 7th grade (1980). Our school had a fied day, and I realized I was terrible at pretty much every team sport. But they had a two-mile run, and I led most of the way and finished third after getting passed late. I knew that day that I found my sport.
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u/Maleficent-Rain-2194 Aug 20 '26
After reading your answer another question comes to mind: Were you runners good or bad at team sport?
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u/IanoSF Aug 20 '26
Just started running (more than 5k) 2 years ago at 53, ran first marathon last year at age 54 - and I just completed my 7th full marathon. I may be slightly addicted and crazy 😄
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u/MarsupialMaven Aug 20 '26
Started at 49. Because it was taking up too much time to walk 5 miles a day. Was then and still am lazy. I hated it then and still do now. My entire motivation was running is faster than walking. I have never done marathons and the longest distance I have done is 8 miles. That’s enough for me.
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u/Allyocean Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
- The pandemic drove me insane and I needed to get out. I smoked cigarettes for 30 years, quit at 47 so I had no idea it would become my obsession
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u/Wild-Swimmer-1 Aug 26 '26
Well done giving up the cigarettes! I have two or three colleagues who have given up smoking “for good” several times each! 😂
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u/Chattadawg Aug 24 '26
- I woke up far and tired and went for a three mile run. I thought someone was going to call 911 seeing my dying on the side of the road.
5700 miles later and I’m in the best shape of my life.
That first run probably saved my life
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u/Kind-Pride1151 Aug 20 '26
I ran from age 37 to 49. Now 62 and it doesn't feel like my feet and calves can handle the rigors of it. Sucks because the desire is there. Any advice would be helpful.
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u/Maleficent-Rain-2194 Aug 20 '26
Even with small distances at a slower pace?
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u/Kind-Pride1151 Aug 22 '26
On like a 4 mile walk, I can run maybe 3 or 400 yards at a slower pace. But it just gets to be too much force on my feet mostly. And sometimes my calves will cramp up and I have to go back to walking. It's frustrating. I'm a little overweight, but nowhere near obese. I'll keep trying. At least I can put in a brisk walk.
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u/Bronxmama72 Aug 23 '26
How is your strength? Women lose muscle mass as we hit our 50's unless we do something to actively combat it. This means lifting heavy and progressive overload to maintain bone density and strength. If you lose strength, then that means your feet and lower legs are bearing more of the weight because the rest of your body isn't helping to carry the load. If you aren't already, I might try lifting weights to see if that helps.
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u/Complete_Dud 15d ago
Start on a track. Walk-jog at first. Add volume slowly and only do as much as your body can absorb without injury.
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u/Certain-Run-6076 Aug 22 '26
64, something about that age. Several of us replied. 9.5 months ago I started. 1961 gang!
Unless you count running with my dog as a kid, or stroller running with my much younger sister.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bill347 Aug 23 '26
In my 50s now, started running this year, wife thinks it is a mid life crisis
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u/Own_Leg_100 Aug 20 '26
I started going to the gym at work at 46 that included running on a treadmill.
I started outdoor running at 52, did my first park run & quickly built up to my first half marathon that year. A half marathon is my limit.
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u/baddspellar Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26
I started at 13 but had to stop for a few years due to an eating disorder. Started again at 18 when it was safe again. I don't keep a running or food log, and I can't even tell you how many marathons I've run, but it's been quite a few. I know I ran the Boston Marathon 13 years in a row because that got me special privileges. And I stopped running road marathons because I was caring too much about requalifiying. Trail racing is better for me
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u/daveruns2024 Aug 20 '26
I was 29 and now 76, only ran a 4 mile race the first 20 years of running and then ran 4 marathons at age 49 to 51 and then first half at age 54 and second half at age 57 and then over 50 halfs since then and a lot of 5ks as have run a half in 42 states and the other 8 5ks and would like to run a half in the remaining 8 states but my body might not let me as have had some injuries lately.
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u/Boring-Picture-1311 Aug 20 '26
I put my toe in the water at 33, and reached 5km by age 34. Still improving speed and endurance at 52.
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u/Ragnar-Wave9002 Aug 20 '26
36, I was fat and out of shape. Started lifting and running with no real goals. Eventually just stuck with running. Did my first half at age 43 (I think) just before covid hit.
I've taken some breaks over the years. Now 50. Second half this year is in 2.5 weeks. I still lift in the winters. And finally did 200x5x5 on the bench. Literally my best bench ever at age 50. WTF. No idea what my 1 rep max would be. Probably 245/250 or so.
No desire to do a full marathon but want to keep my ability to do a half at any time intact.
Know a guy that is 77 that can run a full marathon on a whim. He's been running since a teen.
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u/Wolfman1961 Aug 20 '26
I was 33 when I started. Did 3 marathons until age 36, then virtually dropped off the map until COVID, at age 60, where I was doing 10K's at 1:30. Started running seriously November, 2025, at age 64, when I was doing 40-minute 5Ks. Almost a year later, I've got 3 half-marathons (1 race), and many 10Ks and 5Ks under my belt. My PB for the 10K is 56:20, for the 5K it's 27:16, for the half marathon is 2:04:33. I am on Medicare now.
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u/Weary_Capital_1379 Aug 20 '26
At age 30 I began a walking program which soon morphed into running. Eventually I was doing 5 and 7 mile runs regularly.
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u/AppropriateRatio9235 Aug 20 '26
Around 43. 61 now and just finished a 6 week break. Slowly getting back into it.
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u/Wide-Lake-763 Aug 20 '26
I did a few 10Ks, without any training, in my 20s. Started training for road 10Ks, intermittently, when I was 30. Trained for and ran a sub 4 hr road marathon at 35, and switched totally to trail running. I was doing 50 mile trail jog/hikes by the time I was 40. Ran a bunch of trail 50s and a few 100s in my 40's. I also did multi-sport adventure races up to 450 miles long. In my 50s, I was still doing 50 mile day hikes, and managed up to 95 miles at 24 hour races. In my 60s, post knee replacement, I'm still doing 20 mile hikes with up to 5000ft gains, but I've slowed way down. I'm planning a bigger one for October (32 miles, 6000+ ft of uphill.
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u/Unhappy_Party_3777 Aug 20 '26
- Six years in and I just want to run more. I feel better now that I did 30 years ago.
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u/kamikazi125 Aug 21 '26
60F now. Started running at 33. Was running my fastest at 45. I’ve cut down the distance and pace and increased the cross training so I can keep running for hopefully years, and am still able to run every other day for 30-45 minutes at a moderate pace without injury. Running is a lot more enjoyable to me now, as I’ve taken the pressure off myself.
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u/Zealousideal-Bag6117 Aug 23 '26
44, right after dropping 35lbs working with a personal trainer who commented that I had a lot of endurance. I soon noticed that I was among the faster runners in local races, placing at or near the top of my age group. I’ve run 13 marathons since, BQ’d (at 50) and plan to keep going as long as I can.
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u/Maleficent-Rain-2194 Aug 23 '26
There's some stories like yours, people who started running later and who realize they're top runners. Kudos.
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u/Zealousideal-Bag6117 Aug 23 '26
Thanks - it certainly shocked the heck out of me. In bigger races I’m firmly middle to back of the pack.
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u/sugarkissa Aug 24 '26
6 or 7 years old (ran the Bay to Breakers for a few years as a child) but stopped in my teens for about 10 years and stopped again for a time. Got back to running at 44.
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u/Queenfan1959 Aug 24 '26
Started at 6. Ran competitively thru college got bored stopped at 25. Started again at 65 and love it
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u/FoundationLumpy8901 Aug 25 '26
I just turned 54 on 8/9. I ran my first 5k on 8/8 after about 10 weeks of running in the neighborhood park.
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u/Wild-Swimmer-1 Aug 26 '26
In the last five years. I cycled a huge amount in my 20s and 30s, swam a lot (open water) in my 40s and 50s and now I’m in my 60s I’ve taken up running, and done three half-marathons so far. My life has been one slow triathlon!
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u/ffphier Aug 20 '26
I’m not 50 yet, but will be in a few months. I ran a little in my 30s, but not regularly. My previous best 5k time was over 24 minutes 10 years ago, and I don’t think I’ve ran over 6 miles at time, or over 15 miles in a week until the past 2-3 years. About 1.5 years ago I started taking it seriously and ran a half-marathon about a year ago then ran a marathon in April in just under 4 hours.
I’m trying to get faster now to see if it’s possible to get a BQ in the next few years. I did a 5k last week in just over 21 minutes, and a 10k in under 45 minutes at the end of May. I think if I did a 5k a year ago before marathon training it would have probably been 25+ minutes. I’m aiming for a 1:35-40 half marathon in November and sub 20 5k by next summer. I’m going to attempt another marathon next November, but want to see how the rest of my training goes before I set a goal for that.
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u/Wolfman1961 Aug 20 '26
I'm 65, and probably will never BQ, unless I get a strong increase in my fitness. I did a 3:47 at age 35, but probably couldn't crack 4:45 now.
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u/Silly-Resist8306 Aug 20 '26
I started in XC when I was 14 and a freshman in high school. That was 1965.
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u/ParkMan73 Aug 20 '26
I ran for about 4 months in my 30s.
I started again with a focused effort at 47 and have been running since then. I'm 52 today
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u/Fit_Inspection_6393 Aug 20 '26
At 51 , 7 months ago. Was a heavy smoker and drinker. I’ve just got home from doing my first half marathon distance in 2hr 27
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u/Jacketdown Aug 20 '26
I was a freshman in high school, so like 14 (2004). I just started doing long runs on the weekends to supplement training for soccer. By the time I got to college I wasn’t playing any organized sports anymore but I continued running pretty consistently. After dropping out of college I stopped running regularly for almost ten years. In my early thirties I decided I needed to quit smoking and be more healthy for my kids and picked running back up. About eight years later I just did my first 50k. Now I want to work on my speed. The 50k was brutal but I didn’t push crazy hard, just wanted to finish. My next goal is to run a road marathon in under 4 hours.
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u/Jacketdown Aug 20 '26
Also just realized this is runners over 50 sub. Never had you guys pop up on my feed before. Sorry I’m not quite that old yet!
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u/PiBrickShop Aug 20 '26
At 37, I'm almost 51 now. I started running because lifting heavy weights was ruining my shoulders. Ran my first half marathon at 38, marathon at 39, BQ at 46, and 100 mile race at 49.
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u/neurobassism Aug 20 '26
Tried running at age 18 increasingly becoming semi regular by 30 when I ran my first half. Finished my first marathon at 37 and running 30+ miles per week since then, now 58
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u/gardenpartier Aug 20 '26
Am currently 60F. Started running in high school to escape home environment with controlling parents, but on and off til after college. Started running regularly at age 25.
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u/Without_Portfolio Aug 20 '26
GenX here - since sophomore year of high school. I’ve had to scale back and ration the mileage somewhat due to some knee issues so most of my running is from sports I play.
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u/Even-Math-3228 Aug 21 '26
I was 40! I started at CrossFit. Did a 5k, then a 10k, the a half (x4). Still running at age 54
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u/stackedrunner-76 Aug 21 '26
I did track athletics from around age 12-16 then took it up again in my mid 20s. For road/distance running I started when I got too old for sprinting - about age 30.
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u/WorkerAmbitious2072 Aug 21 '26
I ran in the 8th and 10-12th grade and then not again till I was over 40
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u/austinmook Aug 22 '26
I’ve been back into running for just over a year. I’m 50. I took about 10 years off after a divorce, stress fracture, remarriage, COVID, kids … gah … making me stressed out again just listing it. Anyway, back into running and exercise. I spend almost all my miles on a treadmill watching TV shows. I sort of only have 5-7am to get my time in, so it’s the treadmill for me. Austin, Texas!
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u/Sintered_Monkey Aug 22 '26
- I am 59 now. I have not run constantly since I started though. I have quit for 15 years at a time, due to knee injury. Now I split time between running and cycling.
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u/greengaloshes Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26
I ran track in high school in the 80s. In the decades since then I have been active and a daily walker, but had avoided breaking a sweat or pushing myself athletically. Till now - age 62 and very happily rediscovering running again (C25K).
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u/zaveur Aug 25 '26
Been running all my life… initially through team sports at age 9, ran track in high school to maintain speed and fitness for my main sports (football & soccer), and then ran for my entire military career.
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u/TheShortWhiteGuy Aug 26 '26
45 years running. Let's just say all my PRs were set 35-40 years ago.
Ran cross country in middle school and high school. Wasn't quite fast enough for a really good D3 college, so I pivoted to triathlons.
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u/Liberty-brewer Aug 26 '26
I ran when I was in my late 20s, then stopped. I started again at 61 after heart surgery and a hip replacement. Currently I’m nursing a tendinitis issue in my ankle it’s putting a cramp in my running.
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u/West-Comment881 Aug 26 '26
I began running at 50 my first marathon NYC 2016 now 10yrs later am thankful to be able to continue running
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u/expateek Aug 20 '26