Worried You’re Too Old to Run a 100-Mile Race?

I get this question a lot, so here's an oldie-but-goodie post to help as you're planning next year's race calendar.
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Maybe you’re a masters or grandmasters runner who DNF’d your last 100-mile race.


Maybe you’ve had another birthday, like I recently did, and feel surprised by the number.


Or maybe you finished a 100-mile race, took a break to raise kids or travel for a busy job, and suddenly it’s years later.


You worry, “Am I too old to run a 100-mile race?”


Believe me, I get it. I want to be running 100-mile races, certainly ultramarathons, forever and forever’s looking more finite these days than when I started running them 25 years ago.


Every once in a while, I find myself running slower than someone walking next to me in a race, or I trip over the obvious branch I was going to jump over, or I’m creakier than normal when I stand up from my desk and, "Am I too old?" takes center stage in my mind.


As fears go, the fear of no longer being able to do this thing I love in so many ways for so many reasons, can quickly spiral out of proportion so that worst case scenario seems like reality.


But fear does the most harm when you avoid it, so instead of putting on a brave front and trying not to think about being too old, let’s look at this “too old to run a 100” thing.


What exactly is “too old?”


It’s not the number of years. Races aren’t pulling runners for missing an age cutoff, and 70-year olds are finishing the fast Western States 100. So a birthday itself isn’t the problem. Let that number off the hook.


It’s really capability. We’re worried we’re going to miss cutoffs because we’re too slow.


But worrying about our capability leaves out half the equation - the actual race. We’re talking about 100-milers like they’re all the same but they’re not, so worrying we’re too slow for a 100-mile race might not be true.


For example, here are three different race ideas that make a 100-mile distance more accessible than you think:

• 48- or 24-hour fixed time race where you can log 100 miles

• 100-miler with a longer cutoff like Grandmaster Ultra with a 48-hour cutoff

• Race format that favors age, like A Race for The Ages that gives runners over 40 years old the number of hours equal to their age to rack up as many miles as they can.

Getting a sense of what’s possible?


Here’s what I want you to do. Even if you aren’t interested in actually running the races, use the three ideas above to find at least three 100-mile races you feel you could do.


Doing this exercise, even if you never run the races, proves “too old” isn’t necessary true, especially if you expand your definition of 100-mile race. 


And the next time that “too old” worry crops up, remind it what’s possible.


And also remember that, at least as far as I know, races don’t have an upper age limit - you’re the one limiting yourself if you’re holding back because of your age.


This is your year - if you're done holding yourself back with worries and fears in the coming year, I can help.


Email me and let's talk about how to get the results you want.