Running and training when you're older

Go on Granddad, you can do it

I always chuckle when I listen to football commentators, but more than usual when Cristiano Ronaldo is on the pitch. Unquestionably one of the finest footballers to have ever graced the game, Ronaldo turns 40 in February 2025, and it is consistently now this fact, rather than his glittering career, still-dazzling skills and relentless commitment to excellence, that occupies the forefront of any commentator’s mind.

“Here comes Ronaldo,” they breathe, “at thirty-nine years of age…”, the clear implication being that it’s a small miracle he can still run, let alone play football at the very highest level. There’s no doubt he’s still in fantastic shape. But he’s 39, not 90.

I’m not sure what age qualifies you to be referred to as “x years of age” rather than “x years old”, but in football (that’s soccer if you’re reading this in the US) it seems to be at about 35. You can see a similar phenomenon in daily life, based on the age at which, if you fall over, you are described as having “had a fall” rather than “fell over”. My kids fall over all the time, but my parents occasionally have a fall, and that’s much worse.

What has become increasingly clear in recent years is that it is perfectly possible for athletes of any discipline to train intensively and regularly far later into their life than was previously considered the case. Endurance sport, and running in particular, is no longer the preserve of the young, and the more research is carried out into this area, the more it becomes apparent that not only is it possible for people to be training well into their 70s, but it’s directly and clearly beneficial to their health in a wide range of ways.

It’s interesting how sports for ‘older folk’ have changed in the last ten years or so. Traditionally (in the UK at least), once you had retired from the rigours of rugby, five-a-side football or tennis you could look forward to golf, snooker and maybe darts. Beer sports, basically. Now it seems like everyone over the age of 45 is training for an Ironman, running ultramarathons or cycling 100 mile sportives. Open-water swimming (often known as wild swimming) does not appear to be a young person’s game, and there are far more buff, pigeon-chested pensioners than was ever the case when I was young.

And it turns out that not only are these endurance sports the ones whereby there is less apparent degeneration with age, but that in some cases, being older can be a positive advantage. Over the past couple of decades athletes have learnt far more about how to look after themselves and are able to continue their sporting careers (even if no longer at the elite level) well into their 50s and beyond.

When you’re aiming to go slowly for a really long time, mental strength becomes a significant factor, particularly in the context of enduring discomfort (everything hurts most of the time anyway). So too wisdom and knowledge, and the ability to learn and develop from a lifetime of previous mistakes. Plus the sheer appreciation that you are still able to do this kind of thing can be a real bonus in terms of motivation and positive mental attitude.

In the world of ultra-running, there are many examples of where athletes have continued to enjoy success for longer than was expected, but Jeff Browning and Karl Meltzer stand out among the rest. Browning is 53 and has won over 40 ultras, including the Coldwater Rumble 100 miler at the start of this year. Meltzer, the self-styled ‘Speedgoat’, is 56 years old and has won 45 100-mile races, and he’s still winning.

Beyond the elites, in 2023, 81-year old Johannes Mosehla finished the 56-mile Comrades Marathon, the oldest person to do so. Just six weeks later, Mathea Allansmith completed a marathon at the age of 92, becoming the oldest woman to ever finish one. And six weeks after that, 102-year-old Bill Cooksey completed a half-marathon.

And it’s not unique to running - if you follow the World Strongman circuit, you’ll be familiar with Nick Best and Mark Felix, who both competed at the highest level into their 50s, showing what is possible with the right training and lifestyle.

So how can you harness this apparent transformation in what the human body is capable of?

Until quite recently it was accepted that slow, steady training of any kind was appropriate for older people, but it was much less clear whether the benefits of more intensive training outweighed the risks. But both scientific research and empirical evidence are demonstrating that providing it’s done with care, there are no reasons not to train hard until at least 75, and potentially well beyond.

The key to remaining fit, strong and mobile into your later years is not just in the regularity of training, but also in its intensity. Plodding along won’t get you there on its own (although it’s clearly preferable to sitting down). It’s now widely understood that interval training and strength training are key additions to a comprehensive wellbeing programme.

You have to put your body under strain, and push towards what feel like your limits in order to get the full benefits of exercise – and that is as true at 70 years of age as it is at 20 years old.

And certainly, based on the advice and research outlined by Richard Askwith in his excellent book The Race Against Time, anyone planning to stay fit beyond 50 should be making sure that intensity remains part of the weekly training routine, even if that comes at the expense of some of the slower, low intensity sessions. Sacrifice some of the slow miles before the tempo gets the axe.

Joe Friel spreads a similar message in his book Fast After 50, emphasising the importance of intensity alongside strength training and careful recovery. That can mean short bursts of 20-30 seconds at full effort, or longer intervals of several minutes. Both books are well worth a read if you’re interested in how to stay fitter for longer.

Pure age-related physical decline does not appear to really kick in sharply until around the age of 75 – up to that point, most decline is primarily down to simply not training in that way any more. As the old training adage goes, if you want to run faster, you need to run faster. And plodding every mile is not going to get you there.

Many people assume (even if unconsciously) that their muscles will snap or that their hearts will explode if they train too hard. But as long as you listen to your body, there’s no reason why you can’t train hard and safely.

Of course, training alone will also not get you there, and the more you can add in eating well, sleeping well and looking after your mental health, the better results you’ll get from your physical training.

One inevitability of aging is that you’re not likely to set personal records again. So the older athlete needs to find other ways to focus and motivate themselves. Luckily, even just within running there are so many ways to set new targets – aiming for a longer distance than before, completing a first marathon, 50km, 50 mile or even 100 mile race; different types of endurance events like backyard ultras, relays or track events.

It's also never been easier to build a list of real bucket list events – what about completing the Mont Blanc Marathon, the Comrades in South Africa, the North Pole Marathon or the Marathon des Sables? Or just setting a streak for getting out and moving for as many consecutive days as you can. The goal itself is nowhere near as important as just having a goal, and even more importantly, enjoying the process of getting fitter, more mobile and healthier.

My personal goal is to do at least one marathon and one ultra per year for as many years as I can. But I reserve the right to change that goal at any moment. My goal for today is just to go out and have a nice trail run, which I’ll be doing after this coffee.

Whatever your ultimate goal, if you think you’ve missed the boat, think again. More people than ever are discovering that athletic achievements are possible for many decades. And haven’t you spent enough of your life sat on the sofa already?