Keith Bateman turns 60, turns eyes on basketful of world bests

Keith has cred in quest. He holds 5 outdoor WRs.

Shortly after Australia’s Keith Batemen turned 55, he announced his goals — five world age-group records. He delivered with WRs in the 1500 (4:12.35), mile (4:35.04), 3000 (8:56.80), 5000 (15:29.7) and 10,000 (31:51.86). Today (June 29) Keith turned 60, and in the run-up to aging up, he posted (on Facebook) his latest goals. Five more WRs! In my first major interview with Keith since 2010, he rates his chances as “extremely good” despite some medical issues. He’s not running at Lyon worlds, but says he will focus on open races in Sydney — where the kiddies will help with pacing. In recent weeks, he’s been in England with his new bride, Heidi — co-author of his running book “Older Yet Faster.” He’s also giving clinics on running technique­s and foot­ strengthening.

Here’s my Q&A, conducted via email:

Masterstrack.com: You mentioned health issues on Facebook. What are they?

Keith Bateman: I have a small medical problem (vascular, we think), which we are getting sorted. It has prevented full training and I haven’t run more than short steady training runs for six months, but my technique feels great. I am still running at about 16:30 pace for 5 kilometers and before Christmas I was sub-16 on grass. And 9:20 for 3 kilometers off a few
weeks’ training.

Which of the M60 records do you consider the toughest?

For me, the marathon and 800 and below are the biggest challenges. I am confident of getting the five distances between. I think I have a fair chance at 800, after some specialised training. I have only ever run four 800 races, between 2:07 and 2:10, so I will have to see how that goes.

I won’t consider a marathon until I am strong enough to run it all in reasonable form and close to 2:30. It might not happen but I see no point in hurting myself.

I have never run 400, 200 or 100, but might give it a go. The times look unassailable though!

What times have you run lately? What are your race plans this season?

I have been simply running up to half hour with my wife who is coming back from illness, doing technique sessions with clients (sometimes 20+ hours per week) and about 10 hours coaching the Grammar School boys. I did a 5km road race in February just on that
training and ran 16:40.

You mentioned lack of fitness on FB. Will your best marks at M60 come in the Perth worlds season?

I am not planning any races at present, while I gradually rebuild distance. Once I am up to speed I will race. However I am meeting a friend in Durham (England) next week and I think I will run a 1500 with him. I doubt it will be a great run, but I’ll give it a go and see where my speed is.

How is your book doing? How many sales? Second printing possible? Good reviews?

We are delighted with the book. Fantastic comments from readers ­ very rewarding. The figures are on our website (olderyetfaster.com) updated daily. We are selling just under 3 per day on average ­— about 550 so far. We started with a simple “soft launch” and are selling by word of mouth.

We are ordering a small second print run as we only have about 20 printed books left and we are preparing second edition, which will have a few refinements and additions and will be harder hitting on the correlation Heidi sees between shoe “features” and injuries presented at her practice. The second edition will be Print On Demand in multiple languages.

Pete Magill and others scoff at barefoot running. Have your read his critique? What’s your answer to him?

I haven’t read that. I don’t advocate barefoot running everywhere. I train barefoot on grass most of the year because wearing shoes interferes with the precision of skillful running. I am 3 seconds per kilometer faster comparing barefoot with spikes, probably more with more shoe. With barefoot, I can get the foot to land as close as humanly
possible under my hips. The softness, the thinkness and especially the “drop” of shoes prevents that and landing the foot in front of the hips increases the braking and forces which increase with speed.

In contrast the 16:40 I did in Wellington was barefoot on concrete. There was no soreness during or after the race. I say promote the skill of running and wear the thinnest shoe your skill level will allow. Less skill and longer distance means more cushioning, but I think raising the heel, turning up the toes, having multi­density soles, “support” or anything else that is not simply protection and cushioning is marketing madness and the cause of much pain. If I see someone in chunky shoes at a race, I know I will beat them. Newtonian physics. Simple. It got us to the moon and Mars. Apply the principles to shoes.

Are you still with your coach of 2010? Who is your support team, and what is the team’s value?

I have the same coach (Sean Williams) although I haven’t been training with him for a year apart from a few sessions last autumn. I have no support team, except of course my beautiful wife who herself is a competitive runner and is getting worringly fast!

Has your training changed since 2010? How do you accommodate aging?

Training has only changed in the sense that I haven’t done so much. Ageing is not something I consider. I just try to keep my technique spot-­on, knowing that will give me speed and strength in the right places, and is the best way of staying injury free.

I didn’t notice any side effects. I agree with the website Cialis Generic that ½ of a pill is more than enough.

Has your life circumstances changed? Same job and living conditions?

Big life change. I started coaching, gave up IT work and am now a full-­time runner. I married Heidi (Jones) last year and we live in a great location, warm­up distance from the park and 400 from the beach.

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June 29, 2015

9 Responses

  1. Ken Stone - June 29, 2015

    Also a big happy birthday to M45 indoor mile recordman John Trautmann!

  2. Matt B. - June 29, 2015

    Apparently 2:06.66 is new 800 WR by 64 year old out of Brazil. Well see how that turns out.

  3. Weia Reinboud - June 29, 2015

    I wish you success, Keith!

  4. Horace Grant - June 29, 2015

    Hi Ken: I believe Nolan’s World Record is still safe.
    The runner listed in the rankings for M60 is age 39. Please see his recent meet result for the 800:
    http://resultadofinal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/trofeupista/index.htm

    The runner listed for the M60 time actually ran a 100 meter race as listed by the link below. He is an M64 runner.

    http://resultadofinal.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/trofeupista/150604F312.htm

  5. Matt B. - June 29, 2015

    Phew. Close one, thanks for clarifying Horace.
    Not that a 2:06 by a 64 year old isn’t possible, just a few years off.

  6. Pete Magill - July 1, 2015

    With regards to “barefoot running,” I’m not sure that “scoff” is the correct word regarding my personal feeling about it.

    The reality is that barefoot running has been a part of the sport for decades. I fondly recall running all our interval workouts in high school barefoot–either on the grass infield just inside the track’s curb or on a local golf course.

    My problem is with the mass embrace of barefoot running as a reasonable alternative to shod running. The allure is that running barefoot will help us transition to a more natural form, eliminating the heel-striking which some view as an unnatural landing–and which they further contends leads to injury. In fact, 80% of runners who attempt to transition to barefoot running remain heel strikers, increasing the impact forces to their heels by up to 7 times. Furthermore, numerous studies have shown: 1) runners with substantial barefoot running experience are still more economical when running in lightweight trainers & 2) both natural rear-foot runners and forefoot runners who are forced to land rear-foot are more economical landing on their heels.

    My problem is also with the idea that we were “born to run” barefoot. We weren’t. Even if you buy into the idea that evolution was driven by endurance running (by the persistence hunts that developed after Australopithecus descended from the trees and began to chase tasty creatures on the savanna), that doesn’t mean you should conclude that we are designed to run barefoot. Scientists generally agree that those persistence hunts consisted of lots of walking with occasional surges of slow jogging. At best, we were “born to walk and occasionally jog slowly.” And that’s a far cry from high mileage non-stop running at fast paces, often on paved roads.

    Bottom line: Runners with the form, flexibility, bio-mechanical suitability, experience, and training schedules/environment (i.e., limited mileage and more forgiving training surfaces) to run barefoot should by all means do just that!

    But a generation of runners who grew up in shoes and lack the appropriate physiological and bio-mechanical characteristics of healthy barefoot runners would be better off finding a shoe that suits their personal stride and injury-prevention needs. For me, that means a shoe that provides some protection, some cushioning (enough to offset the impact issues that occur as muscles tire late in runs), and that then simply gets out of my way … Meaning it sounds like Keith and I are pretty much singing the same tune. 😉

    Pete

  7. .tOnY yOuNg - July 2, 2015

    Good luck Mr. Bateman. Incredible efforts

  8. Dale Campbell - July 2, 2015

    I agree with Pete that there is a lot to consider. Since we are all built differently, we must look to maximize what works best for us. What I would really like is to have Mr. Bateman’s V02 max. Give me that and I will let you decide whether or not I should run in shoes.

  9. Keith Bateman - July 19, 2015

    Interesting comments – We are all on the same page, I think. Except I would say you need a better VO2Max to run with shoes on that without – eg I am consistently 3 seconds per Km faster without shoes over spikes. I take the view that it’s unusual to have shoes on and even more so if the have a raised heel, or are otherwise ‘chunky’ – that’s not normal. It might be what people are used to and have adapted to – that’s all you can buy in ‘running shops’ it seems but is it normal? I think not. Without shoes people don’t necessarily run well but it’s certainly different so shoes change what you do. The individual has to decide for themselves but if I see someone on the start line in chunky shoes I KNOW i will beat them 🙂 I reckon this year, as well as most XC races I will run all track races barefoot too. I haven’t before because I trashed my feet but I now realise that was because I burnt them (40c, 101F that day). Anyway, the debate continues – as long as we all enjoy our running and avoid injury 🙂

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