Ray Charbonneau, who writes as well as he runs, shares an article on what might have been the first age-group road race in America — back in 1961. The “old-timers” are listed in their 40s, which shows you how far we’ve come, Daddy-O. Ray has other great works, including Chasing the Runner’s High and R is for Running. Among other things, we learn in “The Golden Anniversary of Age Group Running”: “Only a couple years before, eight men 45 and older toed the line on a hot summer day, John Landy was 25 and the world record holder in the mile when his father told him it was time to quit running, saying, “I was in business before I was that old.”

Enjoy Ray’s writing:

I recently turned 50, which made me the young guy in my age group again. I took advantage of that to place in a series of (carefully selected) races, and I also got to wondering about the history of age group racing. When I looked into it, I found that age group racing had just turned 50 too.

Gary Corbitt, son of Ted Corbitt, the distance running pioneer and hall of famer, told me about a race he remembered from early in the 1960s that was the first one he knew of with separate awards for older runners. Gary, who was 10 at the time, was at the race with his father.

Today, when anybody can find a race (often, many races) every week within driving distance, it’s hard to remember what it was like before the running boom in the 70s. Back then, there were so few races that one publication, the Long Distance Log, could print the results for almost every single one. Gary dug through the back issues and found the article on the race that he remembered. As far as we could tell, that was the earliest race to award age group prizes.

The race was a 4 miler held on Sunday, July 2nd, 1961 in Macombs Dam Park, next to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx. The original New York Road Runners held many of their races in that park. Many of the club founders were at the race, including Corbitt, Joe Kleinerman, Lou White, Harry Murphy, Kurt Steiner, and Aldo Scandurra.

There were actually three races that day, the open race and separate races for “veterans” (runners 45 and older) and “juniors” (runners under 19). It was a hot day for racing, sunny with temperatures in the 80s, hot enough that one runner ended up going to the hospital for treatment after his race.

Eight runners lined up for the start of the veteran’s race. Aldo Scandurra was the first to finish. His time of 24:24.7 was almost 18 seconds ahead of Joe Kleinerman.

The open winner was Oscar Moore in 21:14. Moore went on to run in the 1964 Olympics, competing in the 5000 meters at Tokyo. Bill Sargeant led the Bruce Track Club to victory in the junior race. His time of 21:38 was a course record for juniors.

The New York Times printed the results in the next day’s paper. They made note of Scandurra’s win, calling him the victor in “the old-timers’ race”.

Scandurra and Kleinerman were both listed as members of the Millrose AA. I emailed the club and they connected me with their coach, John Garlepp. He was in his early 20s in 1961 and a regular at the Macombs Dam races. Garlepp ran 24:00 and finished 13th in the open race that day. He didn’t recall that particular race, but he remembered Scandurra, Kleinerman, and the other older runners as people he looked up to who were always willing to share advice with youngsters like him. Garlepp has followed their example as both a runner and as a club volunteer. Today, in addition to coaching, he’s the race director for the NYRR’s Knickerbocker 60K.

I tried to find other people who were at the race, but after 50 years, most of the participants at the event have reached their personal finish lines.

Afterwards, as age group racing spread, the boundary for what became known as “masters” running moved from age 45 to 40. That was the cutoff when David Pain organized the “Masters Mile” as part of the San Diego Invitational meet in 1966. Pain followed that up by organizing the first U.S. Masters Track and Field Championships for men 40 and older in 1968. Warren Blaney introduced 10 year age groups at the Senior Olympics in 1970 and 5 year divisions in 1971. Then in 1975, riding on the crest of the first running boom, the Boston Marathon gave out its first award to masters runners.

Times have changed, as they have a habit of doing. Only a couple years before eight men 45 and older toed the line on a hot summer day, John Landy was 25 and the world record holder in the mile when his father told him it was time to quit running, saying, “I was in business before I was that old.” Now Running USA reports that the average runner is over 40 years old, we live in a world where it’s unusual when a race doesn’t have age group prizes, and even I can win a trophy for running a 20:22 5K as a 50-year old in a race in Nahant, MA. The old Macombs Dam Park course is gone, buried under the new Yankee Stadium in 2006, but the idea that started there a half century ago is still going strong.

Ray Charbonneau lives in Arlington, MA, with his wife and their two cats. You can often find Ray and Ruth out on the streets running, but Felix and Phoebe stay inside. Ray is the author of the books “Chasing the Runner’s High” and “R is for Running”. His articles have appeared the Boston Globe, Ultrarunning, Marathon & Beyond, Level Renner, Cool Running and other publications. Find out more at www.y42k.com/.