Toot your own horn time... Took first place in the Master's Division (age 40 and above) of a race last Saturday. I'm 66, so I was competing against people 26 years younger than me.
What's more, I came in 4th over all !
Okay, now the rest of the story. First, this was a 5K run, not a motorcycle race. Second, the observant will note that the 2nd over-all finisher was also a Master -- he should have gotten the 1st place Master's trophy, not me. On the other hand, he's 18 years younger than me, when I was that age I would have run circles around him, and they gave the trophy to me, so I'm keeping it. And anyways, I, a 66 year-old man, came in 4th over-all, and they can't take that from me.
The secret to my success? Enter a race with not many participants. The field was only 109, mostly composed of not-really-runners.
If you're still reading -- I have been a runner my entire life. Started in 6th grade. Way before the running boom (the 1970s, according to Google). NOBODY in the 6th grade trained back then. Won a few awards in junior high running the 100-yard dash, but that was pretty much it for success. But, I never stopped running.
Three decades ago, I'd do a race almost every weekend during the season (spring and fall). Most races are 5K, but I've run three marathons. I was never competitive at distances, but I really liked to run. Then, the entry fees started going up. Today, a cheap race will be $40-45, and it goes up to well over $100, especially for long races. Plus, they were just eating up too much of my weekend time, driving to the race, running, waiting for the awards ceremony, driving back, recuperating.
Will note that the race I won Saturday was FREE for veterans (me), a huge inducement for me to enter.
I haven't competed in one of these races in 30 years??? My thought was that I would start racing again when I turned 60. That is when you become a GRAND Master (not all races have a Grand Master category -- the race on Saturday didn't -- it depends on how big the race is). I figured most other runners have succumbed to time or inertia by that age, and I'm still running strong, so I thought I might have a chance. But, things kept thwarting me. For example, last year, I was training hard, but then I broke a toe. I recovered and then I impacted two bones in my foot, recovered from that, and then I was in a motorcycle accident that was minor, but badly injured both of me feet.
But now I'm back, greatly encouraged by this minor win, and looking forward to my next race with stiffer competition and a Grand Master division.