Roy Englert, 96, added yet another world record to his collection at last week’s USATF Masters Outdoor Championships, running the 5000m in 42:30.23 to shatter the existing age-group mark by nearly eight minutes at the Cyclone Sports Complex in Ames, Iowa.
The Virginia native, who already held the 95 to 99 age group records for the 800m and 1500m and is a member of the world record 4x100, 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams, broke Frank Levine’s decade-old record of 50:10.56.
The new mark is still pending approval by USATF.
According to a Run Washington profile, Englert lives at a Lake Ridge retirement community and does most of his running on a treadmill: two to three miles for three days a week, or upping the mileage if a competition is nearing.
“It’s fun. It’s not fun while you’re doing it, but it’s fun when you’re finished,” he said. “It’s hard work, actually.”
Englert, a retired attorney, credits his late-career success to not to any natural gift but dogged persistence.
“I don’t consider myself that much of an inspiration. I’m a slow runner,” he told Run Washington. “But I guess I’ve outlasted almost everybody. It gets easier to win when there’s not as much competition around.”
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