47-year-old Spanish runner throws down 28-minute 10K

Running a personal best is hard, and sadly, it gets even tougher as you fight Father Time. Well, that appears not to be the case for 47-year-old masters runner Reyes Estévez of Girona, Spain, who ran a huge personal best at last weekend’s Madrid 10K. Estévez finished second overall out of 8,500 runners in a ridiculous time of 28 minutes and 56 seconds—an average of two minutes and 54 seconds per kilometre.

Not surprisingly, Estévez won his M45-49 age category and broke his former personal best of 29:56. Even though his second-place time was 41 seconds faster than the M45-49 10K world record of 29:37, set by his Spanish compatriot Driss Lakhouaja, the time will not count for record purposes, as the Madrid 10K course is a net downhill.

British runner Nicholas Alderman won the race by seven seconds, in 28:49. (Estévez was second.)

Gene Dykes, 75, sets seven U.S. masters records despite illness

Estévez is not new to distance running. In his younger years, he was a four-time European champion for Spain in XC and on the track, and won two world championship bronze medals in the men’s 1,500m, in 1997 and 1999.

Estévez went on to have an 18-year professional career in athletics before taking a break when he was involved in a Spanish sports doping ring scandal in 2010. He returned to the sport in 2018 and has since run a Spanish masters record in the 1,500m (3:52) and the half-marathon (67:05).

The 47-year-old reportedly still competes a lot and is a coach to many athletes in his home city of Girona.