US masters runner breaks 4 national age group records in 4 months

Fifty-five-year-old Jenny Hitchings of Sacramento, Calif. has been on a tear this year, breaking no fewer than four national US age group records since turning 55 on July 1. Most recently, she took down Joan Benoit Samuelson‘s 55-60 10K record at a turkey trot, the Sacramento Food Bank’s Run to Feed the Hungry 10k, in a blazing 37:29–almost a minute faster than Samuelson’s record of 38:20, set in 2014. (She also won.)

RELATED: VIDEO: Joan Benoit Samuelson after her gruelling Chicago Marathon

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But this was only Hitchings’ most recent accomplishment. Starting in August, she has broken no fewer than three other US age-group records, all held by USATF Hall of Famers, all more than 20 years old, and all without leaving Sacramento.

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On August 11 she took down USATF Hall of Fame member Shirley Matson’s 5K record, set in 1997 at the Carlsbad 5000, with an 18:05 finish at the Susan B. Anthony Women’s 5K. In early September she broke the 10-mile record held since 1998 by S. Rae Baymiller, with a 1:01:20 finish at the Buffalo Stampede in Sacramento. And in early October at the Urban Cow Half Marathon, she set her third national age-group record of the year in the 21.1K (also previously held by Shirley Matson), with a 1:21:18 finish. 

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An article on the LetsRun site quashes any skepticism by pointing out that the 10K course, like the other courses Hitchings has run this fall, is certified and record-eligible. 

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Hitchings told LetsRun her last marathon was in May, before she turned 55, on a non-record-eligible course. (She was top female, running 2:51:28.) But she hints that she’s now looking to challenge that record as well.

Hitchings got into running for fitness when she was a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara 30 years ago, and got interested in racing when she moved to Sacramento in 1994, when her daughter Molly was a year old, and met some more serious competitive runners. She hired a coach in 2006. “I never really thought as myself as a more serious runner until I was close to 40 years old,” says Hitchings. “I’m a late bloomer.”

Hitchings says she isn’t very consistent about stretching, lifting, or cross-training, but when she does cross-train she enjoys spin classes or riding her Peloton spin bike at home. She also enjoys yoga and hiking. But mostly she just runs.

“The last decade I feel like I’ve been training for marathon after marathon,” Hitchings told us. “After I ran a May marathon, and won, my coach, Jenny Spangler (who won the 1996 US Olympic marathon trials), and I decided to train for a few shorter races, and give my body a break from distance.  So I trained for a 6-miler. I was 16th woman… with a PR of 35:24 [3:40 per kilometre pace]. This race told me I had a shot at the 5k record, so I went for that, and then the 10-miler, and then half-marathon, and then this last 10K… I felt all the paces I had to run were in my wheelhouse. This is not to say, that I didn’t get anxious and stress before every race.”

Regarding Samuelson, Hitchings says, “I first wanted to break her age group course record at Boston in 2016. But due to a severe calf cramp, I had to drop at 20 [miles]. But I was on my way to taking the record down. Shoot!” She adds, “am I pleased to break Joan’s record? Sure. It makes it more fun (sorry, Joanie).”