In the formative years of FARC, we had very few runners 55 years or older. In the first Grand Prix race in 1994, there were ten men and two women aged 55 or older in a field of 237 finishers.
Of the 12, one couple, Willard and Betty Dameron, 58, stand out in my memory. Betty held the state records in the 10 miles and half-marathon for women 55-59 and then women 60-64. Willard was a high finisher in his age group.
The oldest woman finisher was Martha Lysher, 60. She plugged away, wearing a white button-up blouse, finishing many early Grand Prix races before passing away. She may have been one of the last finishers. However, the final finishers in our local 5km races were in the 35-minute range in those years.
A few years into the Grand Prix, Arlowene Garland started competing and challenged Betty at the shorter distance races.
When Title IX passed in 1972, all three women were in their late 30s. The first Grand Prix races were about 80% men and 20% women. As more women benefited from Title IX and competed in High School and College, we got more women from all age groups, increasing the percentages near 50-50.
The Damerons were big proponents of Grand Prix awards based on age grading. Even with my aging analysis, the factors used for age grading still skew to the youngest and oldest runners, leaving the average age runner behind.
I viewed Willard as a strange dresser in his running attire; Cotton T-shirt – I guess we all wore cotton and running shorts over compression shorts. Until recent years, I didn’t understand compression shorts.
I started wearing compression shorts after pulling a hamstring to help with the healing and then during some shorter races when I was uncertain that I might not hurt anything.
Until recently, I’ve only worn compression shorts in marathons or ultras a couple of times, mostly on colder days to keep warm.
For the past two years, tights below freezing, compression shorts up to 50 degrees, and 3/4 split shorts over 50 degrees. I enjoyed running in the warmer months in regular shorts. Regular running shorts keep the tan lines higher on my legs. I was able to stay cool and go to the brohugger look during long hot runs.
Some women take advantage of running in bunhuggers. The brohuggers for men are 3/4, and full split shorts with the front panels pulled up under the waistband exposing the upper thighs to the cooling breeze. By the time I switch to a brohugger, I’ve saturated my shorts during a high humidity summer long run.
With my older legs complaining and straining, I’ve had to go with compression shorts on 100% of my runs.
Currently, I have two pairs; one with a drawstring and the other with an elastic waistband. I worry about pinning a key into the elastic waistband and thus need to put a pair of 3/4 splits on top, the Willard Dameron look.
So far, the compression shorts are working. It’s something to look forward to as you get older and start yelling, “get off my lawn.”