Brian has run middle distances in past.
USATF named our sometimes-tracko friend
Brian Pilcher as Athlete of the Week on Tuesday for his amazing race in Chicago. “All I can say is holy crap,” Brian reacted on Facebook. “I never expected this in this lifetime and I am totally grateful for the recognition and otherwise speechless.”
Indy reported: “Brian Pilcher (Ross, California) ran the fastest half marathon by an American over 60 at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, breaking an unprecedented four American records in a single race. According to the USATF Pacific Association, Pilcher’s 1:16:54 was 1 second under
Norm Green’s 1993 record and his 25 km time of 1:31:41 destroyed
Alex Ratelle’s 1:36:20 mark set back in 1989. At 30 km, his 1:50:53 was almost 8 1/2 minutes under
Patrick Devine’s record of 1:59:22, also set in 1989. Finally, his gun time of 2:42:44 tied
Clive Davies’s 37-year-old marathon record. Pilcher’s astonishing performance came one week after breaking a 5k age division US record at the Syracuse Festival of Races with an overall time of 16:38 and 5:21 pace. This marked a triumphant comeback for the USATF Masters athlete after dealing with injuries for much of 2014 and 2015.” Just goes to show. It ain’t over till
Bluto says it’s over.
4 Responses
Great job! He can take down the M60 AR 5000 on the track.
WR is a blistering 16:12!
Great job Brian! Brian has been great for our sport for many years. I guess 60 is the new 30.
Great story on BP at Runner’s World:
http://www.runnersworld.com/masters/a-remarkable-masters-marathon-record-in-the-most-painful-way-possible
Brian adds:
One clarification, I have a ton of runners in my age group that have beaten me over the years including Rick Becker, Ken Youngers, Tom Deaver, Joe Sheehan, Reno Stirrat, Pete Gibson, and many more, so I misspoke if I made the comment that I only compete across age groups. I actually think what i said was that in a specific race there might not be competition in your age group so you can compete against other people in the race in other age groups.
Congratulations to Brian on completing a very difficult task! According to the usatf press release setting four records in one race is unprecedented. However, on March 4, 2012, Kathryn Martin set the 20k, 25, 30k, and 50k w60 records at the Usatf 50k championship on Long Island, N.Y.. Kathy also set the w60 5k record at Syracuse and the following weekend set, not tied, the w60 marathon record. That was in 2011. She was Usatf Athlete of the Week I believe for the 5k performance. Kathryn also simultaneously held every w60 record from 5k to 50k at one time. Amazing yes, unprecedented probably not. If I have my facts incorrect, I certainly never mind being corrected.
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