HOUSTON, Texas – With Texas in a deep freeze last week, it was unclear if the River Oaks Park (ROP) 8 km Invitational could go off on schedule. Normal weather returned by Sunday; the Race Organizers went ahead with the USATF-sanctioned event, in part, to lift the spirits of the community. In the first race in the series, the ROP 10 Miler on February 6, Sean Wade had broken the 12 km, 15 km, and 10-Mile American Records* for Men 55-59. Each of those courses, run on a closed 1.537-mile loop, is USATF-certified and pre-verified. The organizers met all local and USATF Covid guidelines.
The 26:19 American Record he aimed at was Nat Larson’s from the Rothman Institute 8K in Philadelphia in November 2017. The world best is 26:11, set by Martin Rees, Wales, in 2008. An 8 km is about 4.97 miles long; Wade knew that if he ran a steady 5:17 per mile pace, he would break Larson’s record by three seconds. He would need at least another second per mile to have the outright fastest time in the world.
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