andtckrtoo
Cathlete
I ran the Rock N Roll Half Marathon in San Jose yesterday. I came across this article in the San Jose Mercury News that I thought was really interesting. We have come a LONG way baby! And yes, I'm over 40 - 43 to be exact...
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_7124781?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
More in over-40 set driven to run
MANY CHOOSE MARATHONS TO BOOST MENTAL, PHYSICAL FITNESS
In the coming weekends, runners who once would have been considered over-the-hill athletically will be churning out the miles at Bay Area events such as Sunday's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon San Jose and the Metro Silicon Valley Marathon.
Every race will share an increasingly common color:
Gray.
"Maybe we're trying to regain our youth," joked Los Gatos' Ian Esche, 49, who has lost 30 pounds training for the Rock 'n' Roll event. "I look around and I see tons of people my age and older running. I'm trying to stay physically vibrant, and I think that's the goal of most of these people."
He is part of a demographic that has swelled the ranks of those taking part in endurance sports events - the 40-and-older crowd. They made up 46 percent of the estimated 410,000 people who finished a marathon last year.
The baby boomers are aging, and their huge numbers help explain the trend toward older runners. But other factors are at work.
After years spent jump-starting careers and raising families, many middle-age people have found more time to invest in sports training. Older women are embracing an athletic lifestyle that wasn't always available to them when they were growing up.
Most significant, health-conscious people are deciding that they want to stay in the best possible condition as long as they can.
A scary bout with kidney disease two years ago persuaded Esche, a former high school track runner, to get back into shape. Doctors
told Newark resident Carol Turner, 62, that a running regimen helped her beat breast cancer.
Weekend races, Turner said, now are filled with "lots of people who are just happy to be out there, people of all shapes and sizes."
And ages.
"I got to the point approaching middle age when I decided I needed to do something for physical fitness," added Linn Winterbotham, 54, of Los Altos, who will run three half-marathons in the next few weeks. "But once I got into this, it became more for my mental fitness. I look forward to my run at the end of the day so much now."
Strong community
Every new study indicates that Americans are getting fatter and more sedentary with each passing year. The Trust for America's Health recently announced findings that obesity rates expanded in 31 states in 2006.
But a segment of the population is doing more than just stepping away from the Twinkies - they're running from them. In the Bay Area, thanks to the excellent weather, a strong running community thrives. Two years ago, Runner's World magazine anointed San Francisco as the nation's best running city.
Nationally, registration for top marathons can fill up months in advance, and a key reason is the rise of older runners. It's also why the average marathon finish time has increased by nearly 45 minutes since 1980.
"The idea has changed from competition to completion," said Ryan Lamppa, a researcher for Santa Barbara-based Running USA. "People are more concerned about fitness than times."
If they are competing, it's often against themselves. Marathons have become one of those checklist items people dream of accomplishing.
"People learn that if they can run a marathon, they can do anything," Lamppa added. "They know they can suck it up and get any job done when times are tough."
Not everyone, of course, feels compelled or is capable of running 26.2 miles. Weekend 10K (6.2 miles) and 5K (3.1) events are popular with older runners as well as an increasing number of walkers.
"Any endurance event, whether it's cross-country skiing or triathlons, most of the people are over 40," said Sean Callahan, editor of the niche magazine GeezerJock. "My grandfather's generation thought life after 35 is when you should rest. There's something new happening."
Research has shown that regular physical activity can slow the inexorable ticking of the age clock. It can lower cholesterol, blood pressure and weight as well as reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and improve bone density.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, though, felt like a salmon swimming against the current when he published the first of his 19 books in 1968 that encouraged people older than 40 to exercise.
"I was criticized viciously," said the Dallas-based Cooper, 76, who was still running until he broke his leg in a skiing accident 2 1/2 years ago. "People thought the streets were going to be filled with dead joggers. But the reality is people are rusting out, not wearing out."
He also remembers how his 1972 book "Aerobics for Women" resulted in a magazine article that debated the question "if it was all right for a woman to sweat."
Let's just say attitudes have changed over the years.
"For so much of our growing up, sports were not encouraged," Turner said. "I did some swimming and badminton - girl things. Cheerleading was another thing to do, but I wasn't the cheerleader type."
Now she's the running type. Turner said she has competed in 28 races this year, which means she has collected a boatload of T-shirts and finisher medals. She now often places in the top three of her age group.
"The competition can be fierce," she said. "At one race I had to show them my driver's license to prove that I was 60." She paused. "But I admit that was kind of neat."
Charity programs
The Rock 'n' Roll series, with its signature feature of stationing bands along the course, has been credited with helping encourage people to lace up their running shoes. Organizers say they expect 13,500 participants in San Jose - and about 43 percent of them will be 40 and older.
Another reason for more older runners is the development of charity running programs such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma's Society Team In Training. They are more likely to have been touched by illnesses like cancers, and thus more inclined to participate.
In the end, the idea that you have to be younger than 30 and built like a skinny Kenyan Olympic medalist to run has faded.
It was much different 25 years ago when Sherri Shaner took part in her first marathon. She was running with her now-late mother, Mary Young, who was then 47.
"There just weren't a lot of older runners when she started doing it," said Shaner, 46, of Los Gatos. "I remember my dad asking her, 'Why are you doing this?' But now it's become so much more mainstream. People realize you don't have to be a perfect athlete. It's about participation."
More are deciding that life really isn't a sprint, but a marathon. And they better be in shape for it.
http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_7124781?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
More in over-40 set driven to run
MANY CHOOSE MARATHONS TO BOOST MENTAL, PHYSICAL FITNESS
In the coming weekends, runners who once would have been considered over-the-hill athletically will be churning out the miles at Bay Area events such as Sunday's Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon San Jose and the Metro Silicon Valley Marathon.
Every race will share an increasingly common color:
Gray.
"Maybe we're trying to regain our youth," joked Los Gatos' Ian Esche, 49, who has lost 30 pounds training for the Rock 'n' Roll event. "I look around and I see tons of people my age and older running. I'm trying to stay physically vibrant, and I think that's the goal of most of these people."
He is part of a demographic that has swelled the ranks of those taking part in endurance sports events - the 40-and-older crowd. They made up 46 percent of the estimated 410,000 people who finished a marathon last year.
The baby boomers are aging, and their huge numbers help explain the trend toward older runners. But other factors are at work.
After years spent jump-starting careers and raising families, many middle-age people have found more time to invest in sports training. Older women are embracing an athletic lifestyle that wasn't always available to them when they were growing up.
Most significant, health-conscious people are deciding that they want to stay in the best possible condition as long as they can.
A scary bout with kidney disease two years ago persuaded Esche, a former high school track runner, to get back into shape. Doctors
told Newark resident Carol Turner, 62, that a running regimen helped her beat breast cancer.
Weekend races, Turner said, now are filled with "lots of people who are just happy to be out there, people of all shapes and sizes."
And ages.
"I got to the point approaching middle age when I decided I needed to do something for physical fitness," added Linn Winterbotham, 54, of Los Altos, who will run three half-marathons in the next few weeks. "But once I got into this, it became more for my mental fitness. I look forward to my run at the end of the day so much now."
Strong community
Every new study indicates that Americans are getting fatter and more sedentary with each passing year. The Trust for America's Health recently announced findings that obesity rates expanded in 31 states in 2006.
But a segment of the population is doing more than just stepping away from the Twinkies - they're running from them. In the Bay Area, thanks to the excellent weather, a strong running community thrives. Two years ago, Runner's World magazine anointed San Francisco as the nation's best running city.
Nationally, registration for top marathons can fill up months in advance, and a key reason is the rise of older runners. It's also why the average marathon finish time has increased by nearly 45 minutes since 1980.
"The idea has changed from competition to completion," said Ryan Lamppa, a researcher for Santa Barbara-based Running USA. "People are more concerned about fitness than times."
If they are competing, it's often against themselves. Marathons have become one of those checklist items people dream of accomplishing.
"People learn that if they can run a marathon, they can do anything," Lamppa added. "They know they can suck it up and get any job done when times are tough."
Not everyone, of course, feels compelled or is capable of running 26.2 miles. Weekend 10K (6.2 miles) and 5K (3.1) events are popular with older runners as well as an increasing number of walkers.
"Any endurance event, whether it's cross-country skiing or triathlons, most of the people are over 40," said Sean Callahan, editor of the niche magazine GeezerJock. "My grandfather's generation thought life after 35 is when you should rest. There's something new happening."
Research has shown that regular physical activity can slow the inexorable ticking of the age clock. It can lower cholesterol, blood pressure and weight as well as reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and improve bone density.
Dr. Kenneth Cooper, though, felt like a salmon swimming against the current when he published the first of his 19 books in 1968 that encouraged people older than 40 to exercise.
"I was criticized viciously," said the Dallas-based Cooper, 76, who was still running until he broke his leg in a skiing accident 2 1/2 years ago. "People thought the streets were going to be filled with dead joggers. But the reality is people are rusting out, not wearing out."
He also remembers how his 1972 book "Aerobics for Women" resulted in a magazine article that debated the question "if it was all right for a woman to sweat."
Let's just say attitudes have changed over the years.
"For so much of our growing up, sports were not encouraged," Turner said. "I did some swimming and badminton - girl things. Cheerleading was another thing to do, but I wasn't the cheerleader type."
Now she's the running type. Turner said she has competed in 28 races this year, which means she has collected a boatload of T-shirts and finisher medals. She now often places in the top three of her age group.
"The competition can be fierce," she said. "At one race I had to show them my driver's license to prove that I was 60." She paused. "But I admit that was kind of neat."
Charity programs
The Rock 'n' Roll series, with its signature feature of stationing bands along the course, has been credited with helping encourage people to lace up their running shoes. Organizers say they expect 13,500 participants in San Jose - and about 43 percent of them will be 40 and older.
Another reason for more older runners is the development of charity running programs such as the Leukemia & Lymphoma's Society Team In Training. They are more likely to have been touched by illnesses like cancers, and thus more inclined to participate.
In the end, the idea that you have to be younger than 30 and built like a skinny Kenyan Olympic medalist to run has faded.
It was much different 25 years ago when Sherri Shaner took part in her first marathon. She was running with her now-late mother, Mary Young, who was then 47.
"There just weren't a lot of older runners when she started doing it," said Shaner, 46, of Los Gatos. "I remember my dad asking her, 'Why are you doing this?' But now it's become so much more mainstream. People realize you don't have to be a perfect athlete. It's about participation."
More are deciding that life really isn't a sprint, but a marathon. And they better be in shape for it.
