Ken Ernst erases M50 American record in 5000 at SoCal open meet

Ken at Sacto worlds.

Moles and websites report this out-of-the-blue record: “Ken Ernst set an American record in the [outdoor] 5000 meters for men 50 years and older Saturday to highlight the Ben Brown Invitational Track and Field Meet hosted by Cal State Fullerton and Asics. Ernst was clocked in 15:34.62 while finishing sixth in the Class “D” 5K run.” (See results here.) Ken beat the listed AR of 15:41.67 by Mike Heffernan set way back in 1991. The listed world record is the incredible 14:53.2 by David Martin Rees of Britain in 2003. According to a 2010 Pete Magill column, Ken has struggled with osteoarthritis. But he was fit enough to win gold and silver cross country medals last year at Sacramento worlds in the M45 age group. Nice run, Ken! Go get an arthritis medicine endorsement.

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March 11, 2012

3 Responses

  1. Rich Burns - March 12, 2012

    Congrats Ken! It was a pleasure to watch you pick guys off lap after lap in the video.

  2. Gary - March 12, 2012

    That is phenomenal….

  3. Pete Magill - March 12, 2012

    Congrats, Ken! It was great watching you run the race. Perfectly paced (5:00 for 1600, 10:02 for 3200). Perfect decision-making in the way you worked your way through the pack. Perfect final result!

    For those of us who run with Ken, this record was far from out-of-the-blue. Ken’s been putting up some amazing marks for the past year – and only a nasty injury a couple weeks before Club XC in December stopped him from competing with clubmate Matt Ebiner for the 50-54 crown.

    And while we’re talking about Ken’s race, his (our) clubmate Jeff Ambos, also 50, ran 15:45.85 in the same heat! Nice outing for the Half Century Club!!!

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