Most people with an interest in their personal health stats, especially runners, will be monitoring their fitness age vs their actual age via a smartwatch. Does yours reflect your real age? Or maybe you are beating the odds? If you are in the age category 40-44 and ran the London Marathon this year, you might well be, as interestingly this age group ran slightly faster, by two minutes, than the 18-39 year old group in 2025.
This reflects a growing trend, more older people are running, and they are getting faster. This is due to factors such as higher participation, advanced training and recovery, plus the focus on longevity and lifelong fitness. The average age of an Abbott World Marathon Majors six-star finisher is 50. The Boston Marathon has seen a consistent increase in entrants aged 65+ since 2019, and at The New York City Marathon in 2013, 20.6% of runners were 50+; compared to 2023, where 24.4% were.
If you analyse the men’s M60 Masters marathon world record progression over recent decades, in 1987 Derek Turnbull of New Zealand set a record at 2:38:47. Incremental improvements followed, and the current record holder Tommy Hughes of Ireland set a new world record in 2020 with a time of 2:30:02. On the women’s side, in 1984 Helen Dick of the United States set a Masters W60 marathon world record of 3:15:30, this has been surpassed many times since, and the current record was set at the Chicago Marathon in 2023 by Jenny Hitchings of the United States with a time of 2:49:43.
There are numerous examples of individuals challenging their age bracket in recent years. One notable figure is Jeannie Rice, who has been making headlines across the globe for several years due to her standout performances. The 77-year-old Korean-born US citizen from Ohio didn’t start running until she was 35 years old, but has now completed over 130 marathons, including the Six Star World Abbott Marathon Majors and has set multiple world records. Jeannie also has the highest VO2 max ever recorded for a woman aged 75 years or older (47.8).
The oldest marathon runner in the world was believed to be Fauja Singh, who was born in India and couldn’t walk until the age of 5 years. Nicknamed the ‘Turbaned Tornado’ he lived in the UK from 1992 and held multiple world records. He completed the Toronto Marathon in 2011 at the age of 100.
In 2022, 82-year-old Erlinda Biondic of Ontario Canada broke a six-day world record covering 251 miles (403km) in 144 hours at the ‘3 Days at the Fair’ ultra in Augusta, New Jersey. Another exceptional senior in the ultramarathon world is Don Jans from Florida, who has spent his late eighties crushing 100 milers, and in January 2023 completed 127 at Across the Years in Phoenix at the mind-blowing age of 90 years young!
In shorter distances, the world’s oldest person to run 100 metres is Julia ‘Hurricane’ Hawkins, who set a world masters athletics record at the Louisiana Senior Games in Hammond, Louisiana, in 2021. Julia was 105 years old when she set the world record, completing the race in 1:02.95.
An octogenarian who recently announced their intention to defy their generation’s perceived physical limitations is Sir Rod Stewart. At the grand age of 80, the music icon declared he is making a bid to break the 100m world record. A real fitness enthusiast, the Rockstar has had a personal trainer for many years getting him ‘concert ready’ and his private estate in England has a running track. The record he needs to beat was set by 80-year-old American Kenton Brown in October 2024 at the Nevada Senior Games, with a time of 14.21 seconds.
Defying your Fitness Age: The people proving age is no barrier to performance
