My latest guest on the is David Heath. As many of you know, one of my other recent guests, Brad Barton recently broke the outdoor mile WR in the 50-54 age group. Shane Healy also dipped under the old WR in that same race. I thought it would be great to talk to the man who holds one of the records those guys are chasing. In his youth, David was an elite middle distance runner, who initially focused on the 800m before moving up to the 1500m, mile and eventually 5000m and cross country. He was plagued by injuries throughout his open career, but still managed to run a sub-4 minute mile and 3:41 for the 1500. He retired from the sport in his late 30s and took several years off before mounting a serious comeback in the masters ranks at age 45, when he ran 3:54 for 1500 to shatter the age group record (a record which has subsequently been bettered by Anthony Whiteman). He also started coaching and has had great success coaching a number of top open athletes in France where he now lives. After battling more injuries in his late 40s, David made another comeback when he turned 50, obliterating the age group WR in the 1500m. In 2015, when David turned 50, the record stood at 4:05. He initially lowered it to 4:02, then eventually ran 3:58, a record that still stands. He also is one of only a handful of men to break 2:00 in the 800m after age 50. He came within a fraction of a second of Nolan Shaheed’s world record of 1:58.65, in the process setting the European record. I hope you enjoy our conversation – I know I did!

David’s training journal (in French): www.demifond.com/journal

Athletics Weekly article about David: https://tinyurl.com/y3sed98e

Video of Masters Exhibition 800m at the IAAF World Championships in Bejing in 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqGewc4xcgE

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