men and women in your late 40s to 60 plus do you run to keep healthy or because you are competitive

Because it's what I do.

I am 56 and I run just for the health benefits these days. Depending on how things go between now and when I turn 60, I may decide to see what kind of times I can produce as a 60 year old...either that or how much cheese I can eat in one sitting.

Mid-60's here. Running very slowly for 3-5 miles every other day now (walk 1-3 hours on the other days) and the writing is on the wall that I won't be running much longer. Everything is sore afterwards so I need a day of not running to recover. When I try to do quicker or longer stuff, I end up extremely sore or injured for a week or longer, so I don't do hills, striders, intervals, tempos, or longer runs any more. Running is not much fun on most days now - I only do it for the fitness benefits. I want to continue to be active, but I may soon need to find another sport, like cycling or something (tried swimming a while back, hated it.) It's just getting too damn hard any more.

Loved running, REALLY loved running, my entire life until about age 56-57 when it started to get MUCH harder every year. Ran lots of 100 mile weeks when I competed in college and was training 30-60 miles per week while competing until 42 years old. Disgusted with all race efforts in the year I was 42 and stopped competing - I had very quickly gotten much slower that year (don't know why, just age I guess) and my races were nowhere near any minimum standard I'd held myself to. It was not fun to race any more, but I kept training because I enjoyed running and how it made me feel physically.

I am grateful I can still run at all in my mid-60's. I am aware of only one other runner from my high school or college teams who still runs and he has the same complaints. I don't think he's long for running at this point either. I don't know how Ed Whitlock (RIP) did it - guy was a freak of nature and I have a ton of respect for his amazing accomplishments.

Oh, man, I am glad you are okay. Wishing you well! I hope you can find something that keeps you healthy and active though. I had a similar situation, let the running drop to like once a week, and while I didn't gain a ton of weight, I think it negatively impacted my mental-health and anxiety levels.

Could you buy an indoor bike or something like that? I love mine and can watch the NBA while blowing off steam.

Ha 50s guy I'm just like you, first broke 3 at age 52. Then had a streak of 7 more sub3s. Now I'm 67 and glad to get under 3:20. But unlike you, I did not start running until mid-life. First race at 48 (a 10K), first marathon at age 49.

Now I cannot imagine not running or not racing, and feel sorry for those who do not do these things -- they are really missing out. Racing is essential because it gives purpose to the play.

59 will turn 60 in summer. Run just for the heck of it 15 minutes 5 days a week before hitting the heavy bag non-stop for another 30 minutes. OSU!!!

I will turn 70 this year. I run four days a week and walk the other three days. My runs are early in the morning and help with my breathing issues (asthma.) In order to keep running, I have a thirty minute stretching routine prior to heading out the door. I hope to continue this routine for as long as I can.

I think it is okay to accept that there is a certain pointlessness to all of what we do. I still do it, but most normal people are happy to just be outdoors and moving.

Why the urge to see how fast you can run a mile or a marathon? That is, to most people, no more interesting that trying to find out how many balls you can juggle if you dedicate yourself to juggling and do all the hardest juggle training.

Some people just don't find the PR question an interesting one.

Age 62 years, 8 months. A few reasons why I run:

1) I have a long term goal of keeping the 5Ks under 30 minutes and the 10Ks under 60 minutes. Last race was 26:39 in a 5K turkey trot 2 months ago. Well under the threshold for now.

2) Running and other activities keep my weight down. My wife and I cook a lot and we eat better than we could at any restaurant - with that comes the challenge of preventing the excess pounds from piling on.

3) Acknowledging that my running days will probably end soon, I come to terms with my aging knowing that I can easily transition to walking, which is basically a slow version of running.

Low-40s here. I am a former D1 runner (though not very good in college), and I am still running to see what kind of potential I have. PRs at 5k, 10k, half-marathon and marathon over the past 4-5 years (all events I never ran in college). I also definitely need to run just to stay sane, but I can usually get that same satisfaction/peace from cycling (road, gravel, MTB, and fatbiking), and nordic and backcountry skiing, all of which I also do a lot of. I occasionally race in those other sports too (as well as in triathlon), but running is the only sport I care enough about to really seriously train for. I'm sure it is a diminishing window of time left where I can keep this rolling with this much success, but I intend to keep riding it out while I can. I also love to eat rich food and drink craft beer and good wine, so I count it as I massive side benefit that I don't really worry about doing so.

49-yr-old male.

I don't view running as distasteful medicine I must ingest to "be healthy."

I run because I enjoy it, it makes me feel good mentally and physically, and I enjoy the challenge of training and racing.

Plus, I have an addictive personality so it's better to be addicted to mileage than a lot of other things.

If it makes my doctor happy because I'm healthier and live longer, I suppose that's a bonus, but it's not why I do it. If I didn't enjoy it, I wouldn't do it for that reason.

this gives me hope for the next few years. My thought after celebrating was "I wonder if I can do it again". 3:20 at 67 is pretty incredible too.

as for the why?
in my experience, the people that live the longest & best are the people still trying to maximize their abilities for their age, be it running, juggling, reading or whatever. I have a neighbor who is 104. Still able to walk and is just now thinking about moving to assisted living. In his 90s, you would think he was in his 70s. He had some sort of little goal just about every day.

Honestly, my competitive days are behind me. While I FEEL like I should still be able to perform at a high level, the clock is a painful reminder that it simply isn't the case. Age has a way of shutting you down. Whether it's from an injury or a change in body mechanics, there are certain things you cannot control. In the last 2 years, I have developed a lower back (L5, S1) compression issue that I cannot quite come away from. I love running for the enjoyment of it; the healthy benefits; the time to decompress my work day; the reminder that I get, which helps me appreciate the talent of the professionals, etc. But lately, the best I've been able to do is walking with a few little jogs along the way.

If you love running as a hobby, then within reason, enjoy every minute you can. You never know when Father Time will call your number.

Best,

As Rudyard Kipling wrote, to "fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run."

How about, Because I like it.

I'm 70 and I run because I can.

I think part of why I run is also a primordial, extinctual sort of drive. It's sort of like when I take my dog running. He's so happy, tongue wagging, looking around, full of life. Why? Because something great is going to happen? No. Because he's an animal and he's doing something that animals were meant to do. There's an animalistic sort of satisfaction that's hard to explain.

When I run, my brain shuts off to the complicated, frenetic and superficial modern world. There's a simplicity to thinking about...nothing. I can't do that, sitting on the couch. My mind wanders, races, gets bored, looking for ways to be occupied. When I run, it shuts off 90% of human complexities we created, that torture us. It's must me, my stride, the wind, how I feel, and my body doing what it was built to do.

For a sport I chose running in the 8th grade because I had suffered heart disease at age 7 and my physical activity was restricted for years. So I have been running for 56 of my 71 years for my health. One of the greatest successes in my life. No chance ever of being elite, but I'm maintaining an average of 25 miles per week since I began running. I can still get through a 5k in 22 minutes.

Almost 59 YO male averaging 40 to 70 mpw.

1) My dog will chew shoes and cause other mischief if I don't take him with me every morning. These runs also reinforce my status as the pack leader.

2) It's nice to be able to eat almost anything I want without blowing up.

3) A body in motion, stays in motion. I am afraid to get chained to the couch if I stop running.

4) I am still competitive - I ran a lifetime half marathon PR to qualify for the NYC Marathon, missed a lifetime marathon PR by 15 seconds at Chicago and had a podium finish at a recent 50K. Next goal is to qualify for the Berlin Marathon.