Running News Daily

Five times runners proved that age is just a number

We know that running is a sport for anyone, regardless of age, but it can still be quite surprising when senior citizens throw down amazing race results. The rest of us can only hope to be able to put our bodies through running races when we reach our 80s, 90s and beyond. There have been so many times that older athletes have wowed the running community, but here are five from the past few years that really impressed us. 

The 93-year-old road runner 

Canio Polosa of London, Ont., is the owner of multiple Canadian masters records in the M90 division. In 2021, then 93, Polosa broke the 5K record at a Halloween road race in London, where he ran 36:30. Just a few months later in April 2022, he ran another London race, this time a 10K, and although he was hoping to get anywhere under an hour and 20 minutes, he ran an amazing 1:14:04. This time was the 10K Canadian record, and he also beat the five-mile and 8K M90 records en route to the finish. 

Running and jumping into the record books

Canadian Carol Lafayette-Boyd was named 2022 World Masters Athlete of the year after breaking a whopping six world records in the W80 age division last year. She broke the outdoor 100m (16.23 seconds), 200m (34.90 seconds), long jump and triple jump records, as well as the indoor long jump and 60m dash. In her time as a masters athlete, Lafayette-Boyd has amassed an amazing 17 world records, and she doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. 

A 90-year-old record holder 

In the summer of 2022, Australian masters athlete David Carr turned 90, and in the following months, he broke five M90 world records on the track. Carr ran a 1,500m race in 7:32.95, a 3,000m in 16:20.96, the 5,000m in 29:47.83, a 10,000m in 62:48.93 and the 2,000m steeplechase in 12:50.43. All of these times are incredible, but to truly appreciate just how fast Carr is, one needs to look at his age-graded 1,500m result. The current 1,500m world record is 3:26.00, but Carr’s age-graded time works out to 3:16.00. He may not be a household name, but Carr is a track superstar, all the same. 

Hurricane Hawkins

In 2021, American Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins became the first 105-year-old woman to race the 100m. She set a PB and world record of 1:02.95, although this was far from her first big result. Amazingly, Hawkins only started running when she turned 100, and she promptly began earning world records in the 100+ age division. 

The battle of the 105-year-olds 

Another 105-year-old woman recently broke Hawkins’ 100m world record. India’s Rambai ran the world record in June 2022 when she posted a time of 45.40 seconds. Rambai ran this time at the National Open Masters Athletics Championship in Vadodara, India, just a year after she began running competitively (that’s right–she started racing at 104). Not surprisingly, Rambai was the only runner in the 100-plus age division, but the lack of competition didn’t appear affect her motivation, and she smashed the previous world record by 17 seconds.

80-year-old sprinter Carol LaFayette-Boyd named World Masters Athlete of the Year

For the second time in her career, Carol LaFayette-Boyd of Regina has been named the World Masters Athletics (WMA) Female Athlete of the Year. In 2022, LaFayette-Boyd broke six world records in the W80+ age category (two indoor and four outdoor).

LaFayette-Boyd, 80, first won the award in 2018 after she set the W75+ world record in the 100m, 200m and high jump. To achieve this honor, she bested four other nominees from around the world.

This year she broke outdoor W80+ world records in 100m, 200m, long jump and triple jump, plus recent indoor records in the long jump and 60m dash. She has 17 world age group records to her name. 

To put her astonishing athleticism and talent in perspective, LaFayette-Boyd is running sub-35 seconds 200 meters–at age 80.

Although it’s her second time winning the award, LaFayette-Boyd stays humble about her accomplishments. “It is nice to be recognized, but I can think of others more worthy,” she says.

A retired social worker, LaFayette-Boyd did not start running until her late 40s and didn’t win her first competitive track event until she was 50. The great-grandmother of four has no plans to slow down or hang up her spikes; she plans to continue running for the rest of her life.

When asked about the key to her longevity, LaFayette-Boyd says her passion for staying healthy keeps her training at her best. “I train three times a week with Regina’s Excel Athletika Club, and apart from that, I routinely practice a daily stretching regime.”

She says she is inspired by the women who are competing in the W100+ age category. “I have lots of time to do that,” she says. “This year I would just like to stay healthy and to better my times in all events.”

She will compete for the first time in 2023 at the Regina Indoor Games on Feb. 3-4. 

Saskatchewan’s Carol Lafayette-Boyd continues to shatter world records at 80

For Carol Lafayette-Boyd of Regina, age is clearly just a number. Earlier this month, she broke the women’s 200m world record for 80+ in a blazing time of 34.90 seconds. It was her 13th world record to date.

As a nurse at the Saskatchewan Hospital in Weyburn, Lafayette-Boyd had always lived an active lifestyle. But she didn’t win her first competitive track event until age 50. With 13 world records (seven outdoor, six indoor), you’d think she’d be smug. But being a legend of the sport isn’t what motivates her.

“I enjoy meeting new people and seeing the same athletes who keep coming out,” LaFayette-Boyd said in an interview with Global News. “Everyone in this sport is friendly and respectful to one another.”

In 2018, Lafayette-Boyd was named Athlete of the Year by World Masters Athletics (WMA).

Here is Lafayette-Boyd’s impressive masters track and field resume (outdoors only):

75+ 100m world record: 15.03 seconds

75+ 200m world record: 31.56 seconds

80+ 200m world record: 34.90 seconds

75+ high jump world record: 1.24m

70 and 75+ long jump world records: 4.26m and 4.09m

75+ triple jump world record: 8.19m

The great-grandmother has no plans of slowing down or hanging up her spikes. This weekend in Regina, she will compete at the Canadian Masters Athletics Championships, where she will attempt to break the 80+ 100m world record held by American Kathy Bergen.

LaFayette-Boyd is inspired by U.S. masters sprinter Julia “Hurricane” Hawkins and Rambai, a 105-year-old woman from India who made history last month, breaking the women’s 105+ 100m world record in 45.40 seconds. “These women have pushed the boundaries of the sport, and I want to follow in their footsteps,” she said.

Canadian 76-year-old Carol Lafayette-Boyd sets a new W75 200m world record

Carol Lafayette-Boyd, 76, of Regina, Sask. set a new world age-group record of 32.26s in the W75 200m at the 10th Canadian Masters Indoor Championships at Edmonton’s Butterdome last weekend.

Lafayette-Boyd also broke the championship meet record in the 60m and the triple jump.

The previous world record of 33.06s was set by Kathy Bergen of the US in 2015. Lafayette-Boyd held the previous Canadian record at 33.45s, set last year and the meet record of 33.54s.

More than 200 athletes took part in the meet, in which seven Canadian records and 52 meet records were broken.  

Carol won five gold medals, including the 100m and 200m, at the World Masters Championships in Malaga, Spain last summer, and set a Canadian record of 33.34s in the 200m.