In case you had any doubts that excellence in working is feasible at a complicated age and after knee substitute surgical procedure, look no additional than Jim Howard of Applegate, Calif. Howard has three earlier Western States Endurance Run (WSER) finishes, successful the legendary 100-mile race from Olympic Valley to Auburn, Calif., in 1981 and 1983. And although it’s 20 years since his final end there, he’s set to race once more this yr after present process a double knee substitute six years in the past. “I’m in pursuit of longevity within the sport of ultrarunning,” he mentioned in an Instagram submit by the race. Howard is 70.
Based on ultrasignup.com, Howard had no extremely outcomes between 2011 and 2020–and earlier than that, most of his outcomes have been at 50K and 50-mile races. He returned to ultras in 2020, working a 50K, and over the following 5 years he racked up 4 100K finishes (three of them at Canyons Endurance Runs, which follows the Western States path).
Howard endured greater than 10 years of knee ache ensuing from osteoarthritis, ultimately having surgical procedure to exchange each knees. Now, he says he’s “coaching robust–and heavy.” His purpose on June 28 is “to complete at a powerful tempo, and to complete with my synthetic knees, with the concept of constant many extra years of extremely racing.”
Standard knowledge about working and knees is slowly altering, as we study extra about what the human physique is able to. Not solely is the notion that osteoarthritis is attributable to “put on and tear” from working dropping forex, however numerous current research help the notion that previously lively persons are higher off resuming their earlier athletic actions than avoiding them (after applicable restoration and rehabilitation, in fact).
