It’s never too late to start running. Here’s how 

There’s no time like the present to learn how to start running again, because “between 50 and 75, our studies show you can maintain aerobic fitness very well”, says Dr James Cameron, a lecturer in sports performance at Manchester Metropolitan University. “You might lose 5% a decade but there’s nothing to stop someone starting that journey and achieving huge changes,” he adds. 

The news is nothing but positive when you choose to start running again. We have amazing bodies that can, in time, adapt to anything and everything we throw at them when it comes to fitness. “Our bodies are plastic and will adapt,” confirms Cameron. “If we stay active, we can increase our fitness to a point.” 

Of course, he explains, we’re getting older and of course, muscles grow weaker with time, so there’s an inevitability that you won’t be able to match a twenty-something. “People who start later in life will be able to match their peers who have run the whole time,” he says.  

The key is to recognise that exercise can blunt the ageing process, “but only to a degree”, Cameron is keen to stress.  

It’s a sentiment over-50s coach John Shepherd agrees with: “Between the ages of 30 and 60, the human body need not deteriorate that much if the right training and lifestyle is followed. You can, however, still expect a 1% decline in speed for every decade that passes post 30. However, the great performances of masters athletes show just what is possible and how we can seriously delay the march of Father Time.”  

More and more, we hear incredible stories of runners who have come into the sport in their 50s. It’s important to be inspired by them rather than put off, even though they might be able to run a time you can only ever dream of. Running is all about creating a goal and training programme that fits what you’re looking to achieve. That said, they do have some amazing stories. 

Guy Bracken had only been competing for three years before he became the second-fastest ever over-50 British athlete to run 3,000m indoors. Bracken returned to running when he was 48 when, for no reason at all, he decided to go for a jog.

“I hadn’t done anything to keep fit, no sport at all, for around 30 years, but I put on an old pair of trainers and a pair of baggy shorts and went out for a run for about 20 minutes,” Bracken told his local paper, the Chronicle.

And that was just the start. A decade on, just past his 60th birthday, he smashed the world masters M60 3,000m indoor record with a time of 9:39.20 and today is still running strong, breaking records regularly. 

Admittedly Jeannie Rice has been running for a while now – she’s 75 – but she didn’t start until she was in her mid-30s, when she decided to lose a few pounds after a holiday. Now, 40 years later, the American hits just outside 22 minutes for 5km and can run a marathon in around three and a half hours. She’s nothing short of amazing.

She is, however, an exception to the rule when it comes to how you should train as an older athlete. While most text books will tell you to reduce the number of miles you run, she told World Marathon Majors: “I have not cut down much on the volume of miles as I aged. If I add it all up, I have run around the globe three times and I am currently three-quarters of the way on the fourth lap.”
  

Think of her as what can be achieved rather than someone you should try to match. By way of example, I too can run around 22 minutes, but I’m 60 and a man. Jeannie is a huge inspiration and shows me what is possible and why I should keep on running. 

1. Your comeback will be about taking your time. You’re in this for the long haul, so start with low figures in terms of your weekly runs and mileage, and slowly but surely build from there. Run for two weeks, then take a week off, and repeat. 
2. Don’t think you can’t do it just because you’re older. As Rice says: “I train and compete with much younger men, so I forget how old I am, and we never talk about age. We talk about training, racing and nutrition. I know I am old enough to be their grandmother, but it doesn’t matter. My running does the talking.”
3. Pay attention to nutrition and make the necessary changes such as adding more protein to your diet, to help your muscles repair and allow for the fact you are in your fifties and beyond. Protein plays a bigger role than in your younger years. 
4. Rest becomes the most important element of your training. Roger Robinson is still running well into his 80s, but understands he can’t run hard every day or even every other day. He builds in three or four consecutive days of rest to his training programme. But when he does run, he adheres to the same theories as younger runners, including interval training, hill work and varying your pace to make sure all your energy systems are kept in condition.