Boards AC: Dublin Masters XC Championships

Peckham

Sunday 17th January, 1pm, Tymon Park

We've quite a few Masters athletes (over 35s). Anyone want to have a crack at this race? Would be great to get a team into it.

Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I'm ineligible due to age!

violator13

over 40s or 35s?

runnerboy

just wondering myself is the rule changed for the masters i heard its going back to over 40s but i tried to contact aai but no answer. i know the ulsters is over 35s and the munster indoors is over 35s. does anyone know the answer. please let me know as i am a a fresh 0/35

shels4ever

runnerboy wrote: »

just wondering myself is the rule changed for the masters i heard its going back to over 40s but i tried to contact aai but no answer. i know the ulsters is over 35s and the munster indoors is over 35s. does anyone know the answer. please let me know as i am a a fresh 0/35

I have hear that its over 35's for the track in the summer and then over 40's from then on, but not 100% sure on the rule, was it on the master application forms?

eon1208

I read somewhere that road and cross country is O/40 only for masters but they allow 0/35 eligible on the track..They definititively said this rule applies from nov 1st just gone.... Personally I feel its overdue that its changed back and im glad....For christs sake Carlos Lopez won the olympic marathon at 37 years.......At least im hoping its changed back......

gerard65

I'll give this a go if we have a team.

robinph

...if I'm eligible?

robinph

robinph wrote: »

...if I'm eligible?

It seems not.

From here.

http://www.dublinathletics.com/dynamic/pdf/Masters%20Jan%202010%20-%20Notepad.pdf

Peckham

Application form has an option for over 35s

robinph

I wouldn't be surprised if they have just forgotten to update the form properly from last year, but if it is O/35 then count me in.

BeepBeep67

I could be wrong - but I expect we are still in the same XC season, so maybe the change starts from next Autumn, for the Masters age change?

violator13

seems its o40 for men then

violator13

eon1208 wrote: »

I read somewhere that road and cross country is O/40 only for masters but they allow 0/35 eligible on the track..They definititively said this rule applies from nov 1st just gone.... Personally I feel its overdue that its changed back and im glad....For christs sake Carlos Lopez won the olympic marathon at 37 years.......At least im hoping its changed back......

What are you talking about? Do you think a guy aged 39 has it as easy as a guy aged 28? Im 37 and without a shadow of doubt its much harder now than when I was 28. Im sure Carlos Lopez could and should have been better before he turned 35.He might have to rest more,train harder and smarter to stay with a younger guy but there is a drop in performance after 35.If you haven't got there you won't understand and if you have got there you should know!!

robinph

Dunno about that, I'm running faster now than ever before, except I admittedly didn't try all that hard before.

Remember there was an O/35 winner of the women's XC the other weekend who easily beat the youngsters.

violator13

robinph wrote: »

Dunno about that, I'm running faster now than ever before, except I admittedly didn't try all that hard before.

Remember there was an O/35 winner of the women's XC the other weekend who easily beat the youngsters.

Oh yeah its possible but only if you never trained hard before or started running late. You always improve for the first 3 years anyway.If you look at the club standards in men aged 35 and above and you will see they are not running as fast times as before. The guys I know aged 35+ say its much harder but dont like being called a vet either!

robinph

I seem to remember seeing the results from some race earlier this year that did seperate out the O35 category, possibly Raheny 5, and there actually seemed to be more O35 and higher finishers towards the top of the results than SM category. Also a 10k I did earlier this year where I managed an 8th place, the top ten consisted of only 1 person under 30, two more still youngsters at under 35, me at O35, four O40, one O45 and one O50.

Admitedly it wasn't the most competitive field ever, but the more mature amongst us certainly made up the majority of the top finishers. Kids just don't try hard enough anymore, or ever in my case.

jinka

A lot of good seniors don't bother too much doing road races but anybody who thinks 35-39 year olds are running quicker and faster hasn't a clue. Don't see too many in national cc or the real races winning or making up top ten. Obviously its easy to pick out one or two but im sure they were quicker at a younger age. The vo2 max drops plus the body aches a lot more! Im sure Seamus Power and Peter Mathews slowed down at 35+
Having said that its still possible to do well and training smarter will lessen the slow down.

eon1208

violator13 wrote: »

What are you talking about? Do you think a guy aged 39 has it as easy as a guy aged 28? Im 37 and without a shadow of doubt its much harder now than when I was 28. Im sure Carlos Lopez could and should have been better before he turned 35.He might have to rest more,train harder and smarter to stay with a younger guy but there is a drop in performance after 35.If you haven't got there you won't understand and if you have got there you should know!!

40 years was historically cut off point for vet males and should never have been changed to 35. This is not just my firm conviction.... I didnt run untill I was 38, am 44 now and have become reasonably competitive in the interim.....I dont know what happens physiologically at 35 except the top seniors at that age are still super fast. From speaking to lots of vets over the last few years the consensus was always the same i.e. you become a vet when you reach 40.....

jinka

eon1208 wrote: »

40 years was historically cut off point for vet males and should never have been changed to 35. This is not just my firm conviction.... I didnt run untill I was 38, am 44 now and have become reasonably competitive in the interim.....I dont know what happens physiologically at 35 except the top seniors at that age are still super fast. From speaking to lots of vets over the last few years the consensus was always the same i.e. you become a vet when you reach 40.....

Oh yeah but anybody over 40 would say that!!
The whole change of rule is a farce. over 40 then changed to 35 now back to 40!..of course you can still run quite well after 35 but unless you did feck all when you were younger your pb days are over, although obviously a lot of decent runners can move up to new distances like marathon etc and can do ok.

Why is the rule 35 for ladies and now back to 40 for the lads?

runnerboy

as a former competitive senior athlete i always agreed with the rule for 0/40 for vets. then the wheels came off and i found when i was 35 they introduced vets for me. now i am still fairly compeitive at senior level but i think the 0/35 rule probably kept me in the sport. instead of breaking 31 for 10km regularly, to struggling to get under 32, thats what happens when u get older. in all fairness the only race i run as vet is the gerry farnan and the national vets cross country. from an aai point of view i think they saw us younger vets being taken away from the intermediate race and loading up the vets race. the older vets dont want us running (why more competition) you can count on one hand how many good 0/35 are still competing today and i think this gives us a little lead up before we head into the 40 age group.

meathcountysec

jinka wrote: »

Oh yeah but anybody over 40 would say that!!
The whole change of rule is a farce. over 40 then changed to 35 now back to 40!..of course you can still run quite well after 35 but unless you did feck all when you were younger your pb days are over, although obviously a lot of decent runners can move up to new distances like marathon etc and can do ok.

Why is the rule 35 for ladies and now back to 40 for the lads?

I think this may have been a trojan horse to get all vets (male and female) brought back to 40.