Age is no barrier for Colin Spivey

Remarkable 90-year-old runner from Huddersfield had never competed in the track and didn’t even own a passport prior to this year’s World Masters Champs in Gothenburg

Colin Spivey is living proof that age is no barrier to new adventures. This August, he proudly represented Great Britain at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Gothenburg, competing in the 5000m event within the M85 age group. Remarkably, the 90-year-old had never competed on a track before, while he hadn’t even been abroad since he was a teenager.

His journey to Sweden began much closer to home. Since 2012, he has been a familiar face at the Huddersfield parkrun, setting his personal best of 27:14 a decade ago. Even now, he continues to impress, clocking 29:51 this year. Spivey never imagined these Saturday morning outings would lead to the opportunity of competing for his country just one month before his 90th birthday.

It was only after one of his regular runs that a friend of his daughter’s delivered him some news – he was one of the fastest 5km runners in his age group in the country.

“I was absolutely amazed,” he says. “My daughter was the one who got me into doing parkruns and, the first time I did it, I said: ‘Well I’ve done it once, that’s it’.

“But I just carried on and I had no idea this was going to happen. I never think about my time whilst running, I just keep out of the way of the fast runners and stay near the back.”

To his astonishment, Spivey’s 5km times earned him a place in the 5000m track event at the World Masters but there were a few challenges in the way to get there. The main issues were that he didn’t own a passport and he had never competed on a track before. Initially hesitant about the idea, Spivey declined the invitation at first. “But then I thought: ‘What the hell?’ It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, I might as well.”

With the decision made and a passport secured, Spivey ventured to the local athletics track in Huddersfield to give it a try. “Parkrun is one thing but doing the same distance on the track is a different thing altogether,” he adds. “After three laps, I thought: ‘I’m never going to make this’, and that was the only go I had.”

With that single tack session under his belt, Spivey returned to the more familiar roads and completed four more runs before heading to Sweden, accompanied by his three children and other members of his family. He had two simple goals: finish the race and make sure he didn’t come in last. Both were achieved.

Competing in the M85 age group, Spivey crossed the finish in 30:40.23, coming fourth in his category and 11th overall in the 5000m. “I was a bit disappointed with the time but, nevertheless, it was enjoyable,” he says.

So enjoyable, in fact, that it has ignited another athletics ambition within him. This is far from being the end of the road and, having watched other athletes compete in various events during the Masters Championships, he has now set his sights on a new goal: the decathlon.

“We were there for a week, so we paraded around the track and watched the other athletes do their thing,” says Spivey. “I know I shouldn’t have but I was laughing at the 80+ chaps doing the decathlon. There was one chap doing the pole vault and everybody said: ‘Colin, you can do better than that’. So, they’ve pushed me to do decathlon now. I can already do the runs, it’s just the other things I’ve not done.”

Spivey has already set about learning those unfamiliar events and has been travelling to facilities in Cleckheaton and Spenborough, where he has been practising the javelin, discus and shot put. With no local access to a pole vault facility, he has taken matters into his own hands.

“I’ve put some canes in the back garden lawn, and I’ve put a cane across them about two feet high,” said Spivey. “I couldn’t even jump the thing. I’ve put it down to about 18 inches now and I’ve managed to jump over that.

“I’m certainly going to have a go at these four events that I haven’t done yet, to see if I can do them at all. If I can do them then I will have a go at it because I think I could get maybe one or two world records for my age.”

READ MORE: World Masters Champs coverage

Spivey’s determination to tackle these new challenges is not so surprising when you consider his past experiences of running. He hasn’t always been athletic, though. “I started smoking when I left school and didn’t do anything for years,” he says, “until someone challenged me to a race once over one mile and I only reached halfway. I couldn’t get my breath so that night everything – cigarettes, pipe, everything – went in the bin and that was it.”

He started with fun runs, progressing to 10-mile races, half-marathons, and even a couple of marathons. However, when his wife fell ill, Spivey stopped running for a while.

“I haven’t done anything since I was around 60… until my daughter told me about the parkruns,” he says. It has unlocked the door to a world of athletics adventure.

» This feature first appeared in the November issue of AW magazine. Subscribe to AW magazine here, check out our new podcast here or sign up to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here