Brian Pilcher pulverizes M55 American record for 5000 meters
Tom Bernhard graciously writes: “A little before Kevin Castille’s great AR 10000m performance in Palo Alto, a little north on Hwy 101 in San Francisco, Brian Pilcher, 55, was taking down Rick Becker’s M55-59 5000m AR of 16:14.55. Brian ran 16:05.12 in Section 1 of the Men’s 5000m at the SF State Distance Carnival. Last Sunday in Sacramento, Brian just missed Jim O’Neill’s M55-59 10-mile AR (54:25) by running 54:42 at the Credit Union SacTown Ten Mile Race. Something to be said about striking while the iron is hot.” Indeed! And thanks for the great news, Tom. We also learn from Mike Tymn in Running Times: “Pilcher got back into running in 2006 when his son, Nathaniel, turned out for high school cross country. ‘I went out to run a mile with him and was afraid my knees would explode,’ the retired financier explains. ‘We ended up running 6:40, although I think I might have been able to run 10 to 15 seconds faster.’ Curious to see how much faster he could go, Pilcher entered a local 5K race the following month and did an 18:38 for second place in his division.” Nice progress.
9 Responses
Congrats to Brian! Not surprised at all with the success you have been having this past year. One thing seems to be clear, the days of distance records staying on the books for 20 or more years I think is over. We have some great runners that continue to run great times as they age gracefully.
Amazing run by Pilch! And another great story in masters perseverance. Brian missed all of 2010 after having surgery on both hips and suffering from a patellar tendon problem. Yet here he is, risen from the disabled list, running a 5000 record and challenging others, the reigning M55-59 USATF age group road racer of the year (2011). Hats off to him!
Amazing info, Pete. Hope Pilch had help getting paperwork processed. Hope his mark doesn’t fall through the cracks.
Congratulations Brian! Best wishes for continued good health and success.
Congrats Brian,nice job well done
Brian is on fire and racing fast these days! Congrats on a couple of great runs and I know more to come!
Nice job Brian! Your story is very inspiring. Way to “stay the course” during a difficult time.
Arguably one of THE most driven athletes I have ever known…just amazing!
Congratulations! Outstanding run! Your acheivement is very inspiring to the rest of us who strive to overcome injuries.
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