Athlete: Anselm LeBourne
Age: 55
Residence: Maplewood, NJ
Career: College professor
Family: Married with two children
Club: Unaffiliated
PRs After 50:
800m: 1:59.33
1500m: 4:10.
Anselm LeBourne, 55, of New Jersey, an international leader in masters middle-distance running for 15 years, has gotten his 2015 season off to a fabulous start with two world indoor records in the 55–59 age-group. On Jan. 11, LeBourne ran 4:19.80 for 1500m at the USATF New Jersey open and masters meet in Toms River. Five days later, in the Gotham Cup at the New York Armory, he sped to a 4:37.08 mile. In his two races, competing against men half his age, LeBourne placed second and fourth, respectively. A native of Trinidad & Tobago, LeBourne, who will turn 56 in April, has now set 11 world indoor and outdoor track records in various masters age groups since 1999.
1500m Record: In his first indoor race since entering a new age group last April, LeBourne held form all the way to break the previous world indoor 55–59 record of 4:21.94, set in 2010 by Pierre Faucher of France. LeBourne’s 1500m goal for 2015 is the 55–59 outdoor record of 4:12.35 set in 2011 by Keith Bateman of Australia.
Outrageous Mile Record: LeBourne bridged the two record attempts with a tune-up workout on the Columbia High School outdoor track in Maplewood, New Jersey, where he lives. In 25 degree temperatures, bundled up in sweats, LeBourne did a 3-mile run, then a set of 8 x 60m sprints, followed by a 62-second 400m. He says that the fast 400 told him he was ready for a sub-4:40 mile at the Armory. With his 4:37 time, LeBourne crushed the previous 55–59 indoor mark of 4:42.89 set by Nolan Shaheed in 2006. “It was kind of outrageous,” LeBourne says. “I wonder about myself sometimes.”
Marvelous Master: Others may wonder how someone entering his late 50s can run like a teenager. LeBourne seems to lack nothing. At 5 feet, 7 ½ inches, he’s a trim, muscular 150 pounds. His compact running style wastes no motion. His impassive countenance on the track betrays no pain. LeBourne runs mostly open races because few runners his age can stay close to him.
Soft Surfaces: LeBourne admits to one weakness—knee pain on the roads. Consequently he does all of his training, even distance runs of up to 8 miles, on the track. He trains either at Columbia or on the indoor track at his alma mater, Seton Hall University, where LeBourne is an adjunct professor teaching business classes. At Columbia, for the softest surface possible, LeBourne might do an entire distance run (usually at sub-7 pace) on the track’s artificial turf infield.
800 Record: LeBourne next plans to attack the world indoor 55–59 800 record, possibly at the Terrier Classic at Boston University on Jan. 31. That record, 2:06.87, would seem to be well within LeBourne’s grasp. Last June, he set a 55–59 world outdoor 800 record of 2:01.63. He is the oldest runner ever to break 2 minutes in the 800—in 2011 he ran 1:59.33 at age 52.
Training Effects: LeBourne’s mileage is a modest 25 to 30 a week. He trains by himself, feeding on sprint work. But he credits his current success in part to strength acquired from running cross country last fall, for the first time in years. In one cross country 5K, LeBourne was the outright winner, clocking 17:29 to triumph by 57 seconds.
Early Hardship: Growing up, LeBourne lived a threadbare existence as the second youngest of five boys in Trinidad & Tobago, a Caribbean island near South America. “I had one pair of shoes,” he says. LeBourne found his speed in pick-up races and got hooked on running after winning his first school trophy. “Your circumstances determine who you are,” he says, “but you are responsible for who you become.”
Wall Street: LeBourne took a circuitous route to his career in business. His mother left for New York in 1975, settling in Brooklyn. LeBourne followed two years later. For his last year of high school, LeBourne attended Boys & Girls High, running a 1:54 800m. He had no money for college and his time was just short of scholarship level. But he got a scholarship to Seton Hall, he says, in a “package deal” in which a star teammate of his at Boys & Girls agreed to attend only if LeBourne was accepted, too. He graduated from Seton Hall in 1982 with a business degree and went on to work on Wall Street in various capacities for 25 years. After college, LeBourne achieved lifetime PRs of 1:49 for the 800m, 4:10 in the mile and 8:42 in the 3,000m.
World Champs: In 1999, turning 40, LeBourne ran the world masters championships in Gateshead, England, winning the 40–44 800 and 1500 in 1:54.60 and 3:56.05. “It was my coming out party,” he says. “I wanted to be a trendsetter, to create my own path.” In subsequent world masters events, LeBourne collected six more golds and this summer, in Lyons, France, he hopes to win his ninth and 10th world championships, in the 800 and 1500.
Radio Nights: Since September, 2013, LeBourne has operated a homegrown Internet radio program out of his basement studio on topics of interest to the Maplewood and adjacent South Orange communities. It’s a live-streamed show on SOMORE.org (South Orange Maplewood On Line Radio Experience) that is broadcast Monday through Friday from 8:00 to 9:30 p.m.
KEY WORKOUT:
- 1.5-mile warm-up
- stretching, drills, stride-outs
- 2 sets of 3 x 300m with 2:00 recovery between runs and 4–5 minutes of recovery between sets; first set: 46, 47, 46, second set: 46, 47, 46.
- 1.5-mile cool-down
- stretching, drills, push-ups, sit-ups
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
