Decorated masters runner Jan Holmquist just added another new record to her resume. Clocking a time of 24:08 at the Great Bear Run in Massachusetts (which also doubled as the official 5K of the New England Road Race Grand Prix Series), she improved the age group record for the 5K distance by over a minute and ran the race next to her granddaughter. Holmquist just turned 80, and it was her birthday wish to make 5K history.
When a CBS News reporter asked Holmquist, who has been an avid runner since her late 30s, if she was “too old for this,” she simply laughed, and advised anyone else looking to take inspiration from her “...to start. Just set a goal.”
Her records are almost too numerous to recount, but here are a few of the big ones. Holmquist bettered the world record for the 8K when she was in the 75-79 age division, running a 39:37. She ran a 3:27 Boston qualifier at age 51, and ran the historic marathon 11 times.
When she was in her peak running years, training for the Boston Marathon in her 50s, she typically ran around 40 miles per week, but has brought that number down to the 20-25 range in recent years to avoid injuries. It was in her 50s that she set most of her lifetime PRs, too—6:01 in the mile at age 50, 19:54 in the 5K at 50, and 41:18 in the 10K at 59. She ran 1:33:48 in the half marathon at 61, set an age group world record in the mile (6:37.21) at 71, and has been hitting around 100 percent or better age-graded performances for over a decade now.
“I am a huge fan of age grading,” Holmquist said in a Q&A on Amby Burfoot’s blog Lifetime Running in 2018, “so even though we slow down, if we can still be in the same percentile range through the decades, we are only slowing due to normal aging.”
For those curious, Holmquist’s 24:08 translates to an age-graded score of 101.73 percent and converts to a 14:30 5K. She averaged a pace of 7:46 per mile.
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Running Shoes - Gear, Health - Injuries, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
