It's never too late

When you look up and down an obstacle course race (OCR) starting pen you’ll find the large majority of racers are in the age bracket of 30-40. This is largely because these are the people who have the disposable income needed to be able to afford what can be a very expensive hobby. A lot are professionals are looking for an escape from the sterile environments that they work in and crave social interaction and adventure to be injected back into their lives. Shaun Wilde is one such racer who has been seriously bitten by the OCR bug. But he does break the usual mould a little as he’s 51 years of age and has just been announced as the newest member of the elite British Military Fitness Race Team line up. So not only is he running races, but he’s smashing them!

Shaun, tell us how long you’ve been obstacle racing and how did you get your first introduction to it?

When I turned 50 in July 2014 I decided to embark on what I called my Fit@Fifty project where I would race one event every month in my 50^th year on this planet. It started in July with the British 10k in London and then my first OCR at the London River Rat Race in August. I was hooked straight away so I then entered my local Tough Mudder in September with my step daughter Millie.

At what point did you notice the change of going from general fun runner to competitive obstacle racer?

I’ve always been competitive and in my 40’s up until 2010 I competed and coached in white water kayaking and canoe slalom. This was my first competitive sport when I joined the Army at 16 years old in 1980 and I went on to represent the Army Team.

After the River Rat Race and through to the Tough Mudder, I did my research, started to plan my OCR races into 2015, and also joined the UK OCR league. It was in October 2015 when I realised that I could qualify for the 2016 OCR World Championships in my age group, so I started to up my training.

I initially qualified in my age group at a Dirty Dozen race in early 2015 and then as an elite qualifier at a Spartan race in June, also earning the Spartan silver coin for entry to the Spartan World Championships.

Do you have a background in running or physical fitness before you started obstacle racing?

I was a very fit soldier in my 20’s and as well as being an active kayaker, I also did quite a bit of running as a soldier and could boast a 7min30sec military fitness test time over 1.5 miles.

The announcement that you were to become a member of the BMF Race Team line up must have been pretty exciting. How did it all come about and was it something that you had been working towards?

Since competing at the 2015 OCR World Championships as the ‘oldest’ elite racer and successfully finishing 64^th, I have wanted to take it to the next level and I’ve always been in awe of the BMF Race Team. So when they advertised for new people to join, I decided that I would give it a go as I thought that I was comparable to the top racers from the ‘vet racer’ perspective. Luckily they thought so too!

What strengths do you feel you bring to the BMF team line up? 

It’s mainly to show that age is not a barrier and that with dedication and hard work you can take yourself to a high level of performance. I’m also very technical in my approach in that I break down all the variables and work out how to optimise them in my favour. I’m taking this to another level with BMF by also becoming a Fitness Instructor through the BMF Academy and Running Coach (in my spare time)!

Do you feel that age plays a factor in your recovery times from racing and training? If so, what changes have you made and what tips would you offer other racers to help them deal with the sands of time?

Yes of course, so I would recommend resting properly in between quality training sessions, focus on your target distances for races, and ideally don’t race 20 miles one weekend then 10 miles the following weekend. I rarely do multi-event weekends because for me it’s about working towards one quality performance and then actively recovering.

What would you say to anyone looking at giving OCR a go but thinks they’re too old to start?

Age is just a number! Start small and progress with the end target in mind. If the target is a 10k obstacle race, you need to train to run 10k and have a long run day of double that in terms of time on feet on the race day. Train your over grasp pull-ups but start with weighted pull downs simulating the same action. You need this strength to get over walls and to navigate monkey bars. Finally, high intensity circuit training (ideally with BMF) to condition all your muscles and the stop/start nature of OCR.

What are your future targets and goals and have they changed since becoming part of such a successful race team?

My main goal this year is to podium in the UK and World Championship races in my age group (50+), and ideally to finish top of the UK OCR Masters league although the latter is getting more difficult to achieve as it’s from age 40+

If you were to give one tip to all racers what would it be?

OCR is mainly running if you want to be competitive. To be considered ‘Elite’ at the Toughest race series, men need to be sub-38 minutes for 10k and women sub-42 minutes. Running is also a very good test of your overall cardiovascular fitness, so learn to run more effectively by joining BMF (many parks offer run clubs as part of your BMF membership) or a local running club, and ideally undertake biomechanical/video analysis to see if you can improve your technique.

One new and additional target now I’ve joined the BMF race team is to beat James, Ross or David in one race… I can dream!