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2024 RACE DISCOUNTS

As you may have seen, this year a number of races in our area have again provided discounts to our Pacesetters members. Please take advantage of this perk.

Its important that we support these races and use these discounts and encourage others to join us so that these races will continue to offer discounts to us in future years.

Take a step away from your usual races and give some of these a try. Here is a listing, more info and registration links can be found at https://pacesetters-run.org/Discounts

2/23/24 Pettit Indoor Marathon, Milwaukee, WI

4/6/24 Think Spring 5k/Half Marathon, De Pere, WI

4/20/24 Brew City Full/Half Marathon/10k/5k, Milwaukee, WI

4/28/24 Two Rivers 10-Mile/2-Mile Kid's Run, Two Rivers, WI

4/4/24 Sturgeon Shuffle 5k/10k, New London, WI

5/4/24 Wisconsin Full/Half Marathon/5k, Kenosha, WI

5/4/24 Door County Half Marathon/5k, Fish Creek, WI

5/11/24 Sole Burner 5k, Appleton, WI

5/12/24 Mother's Day 5k/10k, Milwaukee, WI

6/8/24 Rock River Canyon 50k/27k Trail, Munising, MI

7/13/24 Waugoshance 50k/Full/Half Marathon Trail, Carp Lake, MI

7/13/24 Mish Waterfront Full/Half Marathon/10k, Gladstone, MI

7/21/24 Cliff Runner 10k, High Cliff State Park, Sherwood, WI

7/27/24 Queen City Half Marathon, Marquette, MI

8/9/24 Paavo Nurmi Full/Half Marathon, Hurley, WI

9/28/24 Jailbreak Marathon, Wautoma, WI

10/10/24 Tahqua Trail Run 25k/10k, Paradise, MI

10/22/24 Southern Door Trail Trot, Sturgeon Bay, WI

10/21/24 Shorewood Hot Cider Hustle Half Marathon/10k/5k, Milwaukee, WI

10/21/24 Green Bay Hot Cider Hustle Half Marathon/10k/5k

USING AGE GRADED RACE RESULTS (part 1)

Since our last names are not Kipchoge or Kiptum and we weren't born with world record breaking genes, most of us are not going out expecting to win the races we enter. On top of that is the fact that none of us are getting any younger. As we age, we come to the perhaps sad realization that it is no longer possible for us to achieve any more new PR's (Personal Records). That can be depressing and could be the reason why some middle age and older runners decide to stop competing in races

So how can we get enthused participating in future races and evaluate our race times in some realistic way? Fortunately, there is something known as Age Graded Scoring which can help put our race times in perspective over the course of our lives.

How does this work? It uses the best time ever achieved at your race distance for your age and gender, then gives you a score based on how close you came to that mark. Now of course that time will be unachievable for us mere mortals, but that’s ok. Your score will be a % of how close you came to that mark. As an example, the World Record 10k time for a 75 year old man is 40:10. If another 75 year old man completes a 10k in 56:14, that is 40% slower than the WR, so he achieves an Age Graded Score of 60%.

Some races are now providing Age Graded Scores, and may even have the option of showing finish times and places based on everyone's Age Graded Times. It's an opportunity for an older runner to compete with someone decades younger than them.

Here is a chart that indicates the level of performance achieved by an athlete:

Next month we will put this into perspective by examining some race results across various age groups.

MIKE FREMONT

At nearly 102 years young, Mike Fremont is keeping his routines of pull-ups in the evening, humor, vegan foods, and covering more miles on foot than anyone his age. He didn’t start running until his late 30’s upon the sudden loss of his first wife. He ran the Boston Marathon in 1972, his first of 16. Then he became ill and was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 69. Doctors told him he had 3 months to live. Rather than opting for chemotherapy or radiation, Mike changed to a vegan diet, had his tumor removed and remarkably discovered the disease had not spread. It wasn’t until then that he started competitively racing. He now owns 4 world titles: fastest marathon at age 88 and age 90, fastest half marathon at age 90 and 91, as well as fastest U.S. mile at age 96.

Eventually Mike wants to write a book. Certainly this would truly impact thousands of people. His advice for anyone daunted by doing or training for a marathon is to simply get moving and give it a try.

Marilyn, his wife, and Mike just completed the 8-mile Paddlefest canoeing the Ohio River. He always has great insights for life, carrying a couple more into Bigs Backyard World Championship along with the positive energy.

"You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." C.S. Lewis. Credits: Harvey Lewis - Ultra Runner