Yes, in Wellesley, we can ‘imagine getting passed by this dude’

Wellesley’s David Westenberg, age 65, last weekend ran an indoor mile in a time of 5:10.61, breaking the American record for that distance in the 65-69 age group.

While the attorney runs plenty of “masters” races, he broke the USA Track & Field record on Saturday at a college track meet at Boston University (“49 college kids, plus me”).

“In college meets like this one the kids are so much faster I often end up running largely alone, making it harder to run a fast time,” Westenberg writes.

 

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Westenberg describes himself as having been “a decent D3 runner in college.” He never set any records or won any significant championships. He quit running for almost 40 years before reappearing on the racing scene.

In 2019, Westenberg broke the American record in the road mile: “just what it sounds like—a one-mile road race on a flat loop course meeting USATF requirements) for the 60-64 age group that record has since been broken by another guy.”

Now a tad older, Westenberg has his sights set on a few more records in the 65-69 age group in coming months.

The Instagram post embedded above (note: it mistakenly lists the runner’s age as 64, not 65) has been viewed tens of thousands of times and generated what Westenberg terms some funny comments, such as “imagine getting passed by this dude.”

If you run in the area, you probably have been passed by him by now.

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