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World record: 80 year old man breaks world record

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 6/2/2020 11:08:38 AM

On New Year’s Day George Black ran four miles in 30:10, smashing the world record for a man of his age by seven minutes. After completing the Portobello Promathon, a few miles out of Edinburgh, Black told local news publications his run was “18 minutes of discomfort, eight minutes of pain and four minutes of agony”. A few days prior he also set the record for the fastest 5K time for any octogenarian runner in the UK, crossing the line in a time of 24:34. Despite his achievements at the end of the year, 2019 was a year of broken bones, calf and chilles injuries for Black, after he fell in August during an off-road trail run. When speaking about his new world record, Black, who took up running at the age of 42, said: “It’s nice to be breaking records and not bones.” After his wife passed away eight years ago, George said that running got him “out of bed in the morning”. He said: “It’s my social life. I train with people at 8am in the morning and I’ve got lots.