talent evaluator wrote:
I just watched this interview with Tommy from October 2020, for anyone interested in learning more about Tommy, I don't think you will be disappointed:
He gives some insight into his training, nutrition and goals.
Breaking 2:30 again sounds like a big priority for him and it's amazing how close he's come since turning 60. I think he has run 2:30:02 and 2:30:05 within the last 2 years, so he's right on the edge, maybe he'll have another shot. He mentioned that he's run under 2:30 in 4 decades (1980's through 2010's) and believes he would be the first to do it in 5 decades if he's able to pull it off.
He also believes marathon training is easier on the body at his age compared to training for shorter distances.
Very interesting. Thanks.
I think a combination of things.
1) He was very good - probably a 2:10 guy with modern shoes
2) He had a mid-life break, so maybe has some fresher legs than a lot of 60yo.
3) He is almost certainly a genetic outlier in two ways, a) his rate of aging, and b) the percentage of his V02 max he can sustain for a marathon - I suspect dna testing would show beneficial variants of things like ppg1a which relate to mitochondrial signaling.
Then he is also in a very small cohort of genetically talented people of 60+ who are able (without getting injured) and motivated to do the sort of training required for that kind of result.
World masters rankings would look a lot different if a lot more of the very best were to continue competing. Instead it's mostly 'very close too' or 'never was' runners. I'm in the second group - at 65, lifelong competitive runner, who was never much better than a 15:00+ 5k runner, but who now with the thinned out ranks can flirt with appearing on the world rankings.
Marvelous as Tommy Hughes's running is it wouldn't shock me if there are some 2:02 - 2:05 type guy who might run in the low 2:20s at 65 if they kept at it. We're really only just starting to redefine what's possible for outliers.