Prior to 2024, I hadn’t run more than one PR a year in over ten years. I trained my ass off in my 20s, and set some impressive (to me) personal records that are all but untouchable now. So despite running a personal best in the 800m in 2018 and a brand-new four-miler PR in 2020 (first time racing that distance = automatic PR!), I haven’t come anywhere close to my best times since 2014.
Last year, however, I set 11 PRs. Did I suddenly start training like a young man again? Did I seek out new race distances that I’d never competed in before? The answer is no to both of those. Instead, I cheated.
Well, not exactly cheated. But as I turned 40 last year, and became what is known as a “masters athlete” in the running circle, I now compete in a separate division from all the young whippersnappers. And since I am competing in a new division, I decided to start over with a blank slate. All my races now are counted as “masters PRs,” and I don’t even try to compare them to the times I ran when I wore a younger man’s flats.
With that in mind, I ran an automatic Masters PR at the following races:
Utica Boilermaker 15K – 58:24
Subaru 4-Miler – 23:24
PGXC 5K – 18:23
Unlimited Breadsticks Trail half – 1:42:51
PGXC 6K – 22:39
Scare Brain Cancer Away 5K – 17:45
PGXC 8K – 30:23
Bound for Hounds 6-hour – 36.8 mi
Checkers 3K – 10:35
I then improved several of them to the following:
PGXC 6K – 20:48
PGXC 8K – 29:42
Resetting my PRs really helped me regain some motivation, and set realistic expectations for myself. At 40 years old, with years of injury behind me, there’s no way I can ever run a 16:00 5K or 1:16 half marathon. But that 17:45 is pretty good for where I am, and gives me something to shoot for this year. With any luck and a lot of training, I hope to set some more PRs in 2025!
Note: 11 PRs in one year is still not a record. In 2008, I ran the “Year of PRs” after realizing how effective high mileage is for me, and set 12 personal records in one year. One of them even still stands: my 10-mile PR of 58:50!
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