Ross Bolding: Still in the running game
Ross Bolding and Tim Wigger at the USATF Midwest Regional meet in Wichita
October 10, 2018
Lee Stubblefield
At the Oklahoma Senior Games 10K Road Race held in conjunction with the annual Tulsa Zoo Run, I claimed a second-place medal in 46:48 and qualified for the National Senior Games next summer. I owe a lot of credit for that to Ross Bolding.
Back in May, I was just finishing a Wednesday night training session at the Rogers High School track when I noticed an older fellow just entering the infield. He was dressed like a runner in old school shorts and quality shoes but looked slow and stiff as he moved around the track.
I smiled and thought, “It’s good for that old guy to be out here. I hope I am still that motivated to run when I reach that point.”
I finished another mile and noticed he had advanced from the warmup shuffle to running strides on the backstretch. Fast strides. Long, powerful strides. I started my watch and whistled when I realized just how fast he was moving. So much for first impressions.
I waited for him when I was finished. He shook my hand and said, “I’m Ross Bolding.” He said it like I should have known who he was. As a lifelong runner, coach, and observer of all things running related, I should have.
Ross has coached state championship teams in both girls basketball and cross country in a long career in Arkansas. That makes him someone to remember.
But in running circles, he is a legend. He has run in world championship masters competitions. He has won numerous national championships on the track and on the road. In 2012, Ross set five national records in the 65-69 age group at a USATF track and field meet. For that career-defining meet, he was voted the “Runner of the Year” by the Road Runners Club of America.
At 72, he is still cranking out times that runners half a century younger would be happy with.
We hit it off immediately and shifted our training schedules so we could work together two days a week. I haven’t had a coach since college and have always trusted my own coaching knowledge and instincts to guide my masters running career. Two championship coaches designing, performing, and critiquing workouts together has been a boon for both of us.
It took me a while to accept the fact that, even though he is 10 years older, Ross can dust me at any distance less than a half mile. My elite distance training and comparative youth helps me finish in front on longer runs, but on standard interval workouts, I am dog food. Ross puts me out in front because of my ability to run even splits, but then he mows me down in the finishing stretch.
Ross’s keen eye and experience with the national masters running scene convinced him that I could better compete at high levels in the distances from 1600 to 10,000 meters. Goodbye ultra training. We hammered the sprint work in preparation for Saturday’s USATF Midwest Regionals Track and Field Meet at Wichita, Kan.
Ross won his age group in the 800 but struggled to third in the mile. The competition in the 70-74 age group mile was fierce. It included Gary Patton and Tim Wigger, two of the four SoCal team members who set a new world record in the 4x800 meter relay that day.
I won the 3000 meter race, running 12.22.62, my fastest 3000 in three years. I followed that up with an age group victory in the mile, running down Tony Brown in the final 50 meters.
Ross has already qualified for the National Senior Games next summer in Albuquerque, NM. With my performance at Tulsa, I am eligible to tag along.
You’re never too old to dream big.
Lee Stubblefield
At the Oklahoma Senior Games 10K Road Race held in conjunction with the annual Tulsa Zoo Run, I claimed a second-place medal in 46:48 and qualified for the National Senior Games next summer. I owe a lot of credit for that to Ross Bolding.
Back in May, I was just finishing a Wednesday night training session at the Rogers High School track when I noticed an older fellow just entering the infield. He was dressed like a runner in old school shorts and quality shoes but looked slow and stiff as he moved around the track.
I smiled and thought, “It’s good for that old guy to be out here. I hope I am still that motivated to run when I reach that point.”
I finished another mile and noticed he had advanced from the warmup shuffle to running strides on the backstretch. Fast strides. Long, powerful strides. I started my watch and whistled when I realized just how fast he was moving. So much for first impressions.
I waited for him when I was finished. He shook my hand and said, “I’m Ross Bolding.” He said it like I should have known who he was. As a lifelong runner, coach, and observer of all things running related, I should have.
Ross has coached state championship teams in both girls basketball and cross country in a long career in Arkansas. That makes him someone to remember.
But in running circles, he is a legend. He has run in world championship masters competitions. He has won numerous national championships on the track and on the road. In 2012, Ross set five national records in the 65-69 age group at a USATF track and field meet. For that career-defining meet, he was voted the “Runner of the Year” by the Road Runners Club of America.
At 72, he is still cranking out times that runners half a century younger would be happy with.
We hit it off immediately and shifted our training schedules so we could work together two days a week. I haven’t had a coach since college and have always trusted my own coaching knowledge and instincts to guide my masters running career. Two championship coaches designing, performing, and critiquing workouts together has been a boon for both of us.
It took me a while to accept the fact that, even though he is 10 years older, Ross can dust me at any distance less than a half mile. My elite distance training and comparative youth helps me finish in front on longer runs, but on standard interval workouts, I am dog food. Ross puts me out in front because of my ability to run even splits, but then he mows me down in the finishing stretch.
Ross’s keen eye and experience with the national masters running scene convinced him that I could better compete at high levels in the distances from 1600 to 10,000 meters. Goodbye ultra training. We hammered the sprint work in preparation for Saturday’s USATF Midwest Regionals Track and Field Meet at Wichita, Kan.
Ross won his age group in the 800 but struggled to third in the mile. The competition in the 70-74 age group mile was fierce. It included Gary Patton and Tim Wigger, two of the four SoCal team members who set a new world record in the 4x800 meter relay that day.
I won the 3000 meter race, running 12.22.62, my fastest 3000 in three years. I followed that up with an age group victory in the mile, running down Tony Brown in the final 50 meters.
Ross has already qualified for the National Senior Games next summer in Albuquerque, NM. With my performance at Tulsa, I am eligible to tag along.
You’re never too old to dream big.