Gary Patton (Picture: Justin Gaymon/The Armory Foundation)

How smug did you feel last time you went out running and smashed your minute/mile PB?

Pretty smug, huh? We’ve all been there. Well let us wipe that smile off your face by telling you how fast Gary Patton can run.

The 71-year-old just smashed a world record for running a mile in 5:29.81. My Nike run club app has never and will never see anything close to that time.

Gary, from Iowa, USA smashed the world record for the 70-74 age group on 7 December at the New York Amory indoor track.

The previous record – which stood unbeaten for 30 years – was 5:32.4.

(Picture: USATF)

Gary has broken many records for his running but only attempted the indoor mile category last year, missing it by two and a half seconds.

He told Runners World that he thought he’d messed up this year’s attempt, after realising he was off pace when he had his half mile split time of 2:49.2.

Instead of giving up, he just ran for his life.

‘I’m just going to sprint this sucker and see how long I can last,’ he told the mag.

You might be surprised to discover that Gary only runs once every three days – supplementing his running routine with strength training.

‘This year I’ve added a morning session of a lot of squats, push-ups and burpees, and a lot of stretching,’ he told Runners World.

‘I spend 30 to 40 minutes every morning doing those. And I’m on a three day rotation with my afternoon workouts—one day of running, one day of weight training, and one day of cross training.’

So maybe the key to running faster is running less?

Got to be worth a shot.

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