Westborough Runner Aims to Win Age Group

Name: Dave Oliver

Age: 55

Marathon experience:  Originally from Sussex, England, Dave has run the Boston Marathon twenty-one times, including 20 races since he moved to Westborough in 1992. In total, he has run 30 marathons. Dave told Westborough Patch that his first race was The Marine Corps Marathon in 1991. Dave said that his friends told him that he qualified for the Boston Marathon based on his time, so he had to run it. He commented that his first Boston Marathon was an incredible experience. Dave said, “I over trained. It was a slow race, which motivated me to do my second, so I could do much better. We had moved to Westborough then, so I could train on the course. I was able to gradually over time improve my performance.”

Reason for running: “Racing is still my reason for running. It’s about competition. This year I’m in the 55 – 59 age group. I’m one of the younger guys in this group, so I stand a better chance for winning than in the 50 - 54 age group where the younger guys are coming up. It’s hard to compete, as you get older. In 2008, I came in third in my age time division. My time was 2:43.  I’d like to get down into the high 2:40s this year. I think that’s a realistic goal based on my training, but it’s dependent on the weather. Times in Boston are so dependent on the weather – a cold or hot day would make that time much more difficult to achieve than the high 2:50s.”

Training tip:

“My general philosophy to training is a little more scientific this year. I’m running my long runs much faster than in the past, and my easy runs slower. This is an experiment. It’s something I haven’t tried before. In the past, I’ve run up to a 100 miles a week. This year I’ve been in the high 80s pretty consistently since the beginning of the year.”