Meet multi-eventer Jason Lattimore, the future of masters track

Lawyer Jason Lattimore is living his track dream.

Lawyer Lattimore lives the dream.

Jason Lattimore is our future — part of a wave of M40s bringing new blood into a sport that dotes on the aged. We saw him excel at Winston-Salem nationals, winning the pentathlon (and all five events). But his backstory is typically fascinating. His local paper tells it well. “Looking to test himself further, in May of 2013 Lattimore entered his first Masters race…. At the North Jersey Masters Track and Field meet, he was pleasantly surprised when he won each event he entered.” He’s quoted as saying: “I had no idea I would even finish. I thought to myself this is kind of nice. I feel very fortunate to be able to do it. When you think about it, how many people get to go back and do the thing they love to do when they were really young? That’s my hobby now and I get to compete and I meet a lot of really neat people. It’s great.”

The story continued:

During the next two years, Lattimore won 10 gold medals in Masters Track and Field competitions. His consummate achievement so far occurred at the 2014 USATF Masters Outdoor Championships in July at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Competing in the Men’s (40-44) Outdoor Pentathlon, Lattimore won all five competitions: the 200-meter, 1,500-meter, long jump, discus and javelin events earning five gold medals. He scored 3,180 points, handily beating the second place competitor, who topped out at 1,962.

“I was a decathlete when I was younger so I have a mixed body type. I have the strength to throw but I also can run. I was fortunate it’s kind of carried over. The pentathlon is like the baby decathlon. They give you five events instead of ten and quite frankly I don’t want to pole vault anymore,” Lattimore said with a laugh. “So I went out and I wound up winning. It’s been a lot of fun.”

Despite playing all sports as a youngster, it wasn’t until junior high that Lattimore gravitated to track and field events. Joining the Morristown High school team as a freshman, he began competing in the decathlon, where he did very well.

At different times during his high school career he held the state record in the indoor pentathlon and the Morris County record in the discus. He was also named the Daily Record Athlete of the Week for May 21, 1990.

“I don’t think anybody has beaten my score in the decathlon and I don’t think they will because back then they used to make you use the college implements. And they don’t now so that kind of assures no one will ever break my record,” Lattimore said.

After graduating, Lattimore headed to Princeton where he continued to compete in track and field events. Named co-captain of the team, he set the school record in the pentathlon. After earning a B.A., he attained his second Ivy League degree when he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2000. He now runs his own law firm in Morristown.

“It’s funny with running. I hear a lot of people say, ‘I hate running.’ And it’s usually because getting in shape to run is probably one of the least enjoyable experiences you can go through. It feels awful. It’s like anything else, your body has to get used to it but in the course of getting used to running, you’re in oxygen debt, you sometimes feel nauseous, your legs are so heavy and you hurt. There’s a burn that’s associated with it,” Lattimore said.

“But once you get there, it’s one of the most enjoyable things you can do. It’s kind of like there’s a real reward to it. It’s great.”

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December 7, 2014

5 Responses

  1. al cestero - December 7, 2014

    i met jason at the armory back in february. he is an awsome athlete and consumate gentleman.i was entered in the jumps , but had my first pulled hamstring in over 45 years of continuous competing, on my second long jump( they had all ages in the flights, so i thought i could mimick the 25 year olds and turn on the afterburners) i was smart enough to stop, so i watched jason, and chatted with him between events.his mentor at princeton was none other than fred samara, who i had the pleasure of competing against when i was a submaster.when i realized that jason was about 20 years younger than me, it hit me how fast time flies..it seemed like yesterday that i was in the 40-44 group, and one month later i was matriculating to the 60-64 group 🙂

  2. Becca Peter - December 9, 2014

    But pole vault is the best part! 😉

  3. peter van aken - December 13, 2014

    The reporter in the local Gannett affiliate newspaper didn’t understand our sport, and made an assumption- the story lists Jason as winning the M 40 Outdoor Pentathlon at Nationals and gaining “five medals”- he was the top point getter in each of the Pentathlon disciplines, so his total score earned him ONE medal.

    The reporter also failed to congratulate Jason on entering two individual events at Nationals- he finished second in M 40 Discus, 44.01, and third in M 40 High jump, 1.70.

  4. Ava - November 21, 2015

    Jason Lattimore is my dad and I am so proud of him. It is really amazing to go to the track with him and see him run. It is just me in the bleachers cheering him on. I was seven years old in 2013 (has it really been that long?)and I just turned ten. Not only is he a great lawyer and athlete, but he is a great dad.

  5. Brian Coushay - November 25, 2015

    Jason- congratulations on your success! Best of Luck in future competitions! Train hard and smart.

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