Older athletes are performing at a higher level than ever before. Eight masters Ironman triathlon records were set in 2010, and three of these were set by people over 65 years old.
For the past 25 years, the average Ironman performance has risen progressively, resulting in an average 7.5% – 8% time improvement for all age groups over 45 years old. In a recent study of more than 900,000 marathon participants, one fourth of the runners in their mid to late 60’s outperformed half the runners aged 20 to 54.
– Source: Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, September 2014
