Breaking Barriers Blog

In our society, we are expected to slow down as we age. We are accustomed to seeing our bodies breakdown and our health deteriorate. Runners expect their times to get slower as they age.  Case in point is the Boston Marathon which requires a qualifying time for entry.  In 2011, the qualifying time for a woman at the age of 40 was 3 hours and 50 minutes; while the time for a 55 year old woman was 4 hours and 15 minutes.

In running, a “PR” stands for “Personal Record,” and it’s a tremendous accomplishment to achieve one, especially as we age and balance our professional and personal lives.  For many marathon runners, a PR is a life-time goal, given the distance (26.2 miles); the months of training; the challenges of dealing with the terrain of certain courses; and the weather conditions.

Below are some of my recent running times including my marathon PR which was achieved at the Boston Marathon when I was 54.  I also included my previous marathon PR which was achieved at the Long Beach Marathon when I was 40.  Times are in hours, minutes, seconds:

CA Chinatown 10k — February 24, 2013 — 55:42.

Boston Marathon — April 16, 2012 — 5:26:47 – NOT A PR.

Southern California Half-Marathon — Jan. 7, 2012 — 1:56:52.

Beach Derby (10-miles), Huntington Beach, CA — Nov. 6, 2011 — 1:31:00

Lincoln (NE) Marathon — May 1, 2011 — 3:53:23 (PR, Boston qualifer, 3rd place age-group winner )

Distance Derby (10 miles), Huntington Beach, CA – Oct. 23, 2010 – 1:25:03

San Francisco (CA) Marathon – July 25, 2010 – 4:06:08 (Boston qualifier)

Orange County (CA) Half Marathon (13.1 miles) – May 02, 2010 – 1:50:21

Power By Numbers 10K (6.2 miles), Santa Monica, CA – Nov. 22, 2009 – 49:55

Distance Derby (10 miles), Huntington Beach, CA – Oct. 24, 2009 – 1:21:03

Boston Marathon – April 20, 2009 – 3:53:42 (my second PR at age 54)

Kansas City (MO) Marathon – Oct. 18, 2008 – 3:55:46 (Boston qualifier)

Long  Beach (CA) Marathon – Feb. 7, 1993 – 3:55:15 (first PR at age 40)

Barriers can be broken!

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