Earlier this month on the Hennepin 100 Mile in Illinois, 70-year-old ultrarunner Henry Bickerstaff from Alva, Oklahoma, ran the quickest 100-mile path race for a 70-plus-year-old runner in North America this 12 months. Henry’s time of 25:12 was achieved by way of a mixture of rigorously designed coaching, excellent race-day execution, and an optimistic mindset.
Within the fall of 2016, Henry was following the coaching methodology from Joe Friel’s e book “Quick After 50.” Whereas he was seeing some progress, he felt he was not working to his potential. After ending Western States 100 in 2010, Henry had gone on a tough streak of not ending 100 milers for six years. He knew he wanted to do one thing completely different. On the recommendation of his good friend and Western States 100 champion, Kaci Licktieg, he reached out to me.
Our personalities instantly meshed. I’m not a cheerleader-type coach, and Henry is certainly not an athlete who wants a cheerleader. A sometimes stoic U.S. Midwestern accountant, Henry doesn’t want somebody to carry his hand. Slightly, he wants a coach who will plan his coaching, maintain him accountable, and provide each encouragement and constructive criticism.
Henry Bickerstaff ending the 2024 Hennepin 100 Mile. Photograph: Ornery Mule Races
Again in January, we mapped out an in depth plan that may culminate on the Hennepin 100 Mile in October. Henry needed to realize one other Western States 100 qualifier, and in addition construct as much as his finest health degree so far. We determined to focus his most intense exercises on the bike, which he would journey twice per week. On the opposite 5 days of the week, Henry ran a mixture of restoration runs, endurance runs, and interval exercises.
Within the nine-month construct as much as the Hennepin 100 Mile, Henry averaged simply over 10 hours of coaching per week, whereas increasing his cardio base and remaining damage free.
As with every older athlete, restoration between laborious or lengthy efforts proved to be the largest problem. By means of the spring and summer time, we always tweaked Henry’s coaching to verify he was suitably recovered in time for his subsequent huge dose of coaching. By the point August rolled round, we had discovered the candy spot between depth and restoration, and Henry was prepared for an important a part of his total construct up — his three-day coaching camp.
Having labored with Henry for thus lengthy, I knew he was nicely outfitted to deal with the calls for of a three-day camp. And, I additionally knew that Henry preferred to combine a race into his three-day coaching camp, as a approach of anchoring the coaching in one thing tangible. Henry selected the Iron Will 50 Mile race as his coaching camp race, because the course was much like the Hennepin 100 Mile, and it takes place 5 weeks forward of race day.
AJW with buddies at his personal coaching camp for this 12 months’s Javelina 100 Mile. Photograph: Dana Roark
Henry ran 25 miles on the Thursday earlier than the Iron Will 50 Mile and 15 miles on Friday to present him a pleasant 90-mile camp. Even on drained legs, he managed to run a formidable 10:09 on the race, which up till now could be the quickest 50-mile path run for a 70-plus-year previous male in North America in 2024. At that time, we each knew he was prepared and primed for an important race.
Ultrarunning coach Jason Koop likes to say that the perfect executed races are literally boring. Henry nailed this on the Hennepin 100 Mile. Apart from just a few hours of abdomen misery within the warmth of the day, Henry maintained his power ranges all through the race, took care of himself each bodily and mentally, and paced the race brilliantly. So brilliantly, in actual fact, that during the last 40 miles of the race he handed 41 individuals, a couple of individual per mile, one thing of which he was notably proud.
In my follow-up dialog with Henry, I requested him what his key takeaway from his efficiency was. His reply was nice: “My takeaway is that something is feasible with correct bodily and psychological coaching. I feel the important thing to my success is the understanding that coaching evolves as you age, and that at 70, and even 60 or 50, we can’t prepare the identical as we did once we had been 20, 30, and even 40. What turns into extra essential is consistency and paying extra consideration to the little issues.”
Henry Bickerstaff’s Beer of the Week
This week’s beer, as chosen by Henry, comes from Alva Beer Firm in Alva, Oklahoma, a small brewpub-style venue serving scrumptious beers and artisan pizzas. Pax Americana West Coast IPA takes inspiration from the lighter and extra approachable model of the fashion, bringing the entire hop aroma and taste with a a lot much less pronounced bitterness. The tip result’s a dangerously drinkable IPA, which measures up at 7.1% ABV. Most drinkers will take pleasure in its fantastically creamy head, and crystal-clear, orange-to-reddish hue.
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