I moved back to Minnesota in 1999, got married and stopped running until our two daughters graduated high school.
My name is Doug Bonestroo and I was born in Minnesota in 1960. I started distance running when I was a junior in high school, joining the cross country team to get in shape for basketball season. I was not one of the best runners on the team but I enjoyed it.
After moving to Dallas, TX from Minneapolis, MN in 1982, I continued my competitive running by entering a few races of between 2 and 5 miles in my mid-20’s in the Hurst / Euless / Bedford (HEB) area. It was there that I started having some success, winning “Top 3” status in a couple of races and getting my times down into the 5:40 per mile pace range
A photo of my wife and I at the Eifel Tower in 2009 made me realize that I needed to drop 30 pounds of “dad fat” pronto and I started to run again in my early 50’s. The weight came off and the speed came back and since then I have entered 45+ USATF Certified (for distance) races ranging from a mile to the 10K distance.
Along the way I learned about the USATF Masters (www.usatfmasters.org) program for athletes 40+ years old that want to continue to compete; whether track and field or road racing events.
There are awards for Track and Field –
https://nationalmastersnews.com/all-american/track-and-field-standards/
And there are awards for Long Distance Running / Road Racing –
https://nationalmastersnews.com/all-american/road-race-standards/
As of today, I have qualified for USATF Masters All American status at the 5K, 8K and 10K distances during the period 2012 to 2022. My PR’s as a Master’s Athlete, all after the age of 55, are as follows:
1 Mile 6:11.6
5K 21:01
8K 35:22
10K 45:36
In a recent race, as a 62 year old, I ran in the Myrtle Beach Coastal 5K on October 15, 2022 and finished the race in 21:48. I finished 11th overall of 373 finishers; and 1st place for everyone 50 years of age and over.
I plan to continue racing for as long as I can.