Aidan Puffer clocked a 14:47 5000m setting a new world record for 14 year-olds

Aidan Puffer is a 14-year-old high school freshman at Manchester.  When he crossed the finish line at the Bob Michalski 5000m Championship at the Connecticut Distance Festival on Thursday he had a relaxed demeanor. Placing third behind Xavier junior Robbie Cozean and Hall senior Trey Cormier, Puffer remained calm and stoic after his finish.

For those watching the bushy-haired 14-year-old, it appeared to be just another runner.  

Except it wasn’t. Puffer had just broken a world record.

With his time of 14:47.66, Puffer broke Hans Segerfelt’s mark of 15:10.2, set in 1975, to claim the world’s fastest time in the 5K by a 14-year-old.

“The 14-year-old world record is like, 15:10,” Puffer said. “The freshman national record was like 14:59. The New Balance nationals standard for the 5K championship race is like 14:50. So I was just focused on hitting all of those, mostly just to get 14:50.”

Mission accomplished for Puffer, who trailed Cozean and Cormier for the entirety of the 5,000-meter race. Cozean (14:40.40) and Cormier (14:42.90) exchanged leads for much of the race, while Puffer trailed patiently, checking his watch and adjusting his pace when needed to assure he’d meet his goal.

“At the beginning I kind of got a little nervous,” Puffer said. “At the beginning I heard 68s and stuff [for 400m] and I was like ‘Oh man, we need to slow down a little bit.’ I mean, it wasn’t as painful as I thought it would be. I felt really good throughout the whole race.”

Puffer, trains about 40 miles per week and works with his own running coach, has previously set world records in the 5K for the 12- and 13-year-old age groups. (Second photo of Aidan at age 13). 

“I’ve never worked with an athlete with as much natural ability as Aidan Puffer,” Manchester coach Mike Bendzinski said.

posted Saturday April 20th