“I was just thinking about living longer,” he laughs. But his goal was not racing – that would wait. A friend suggested he use a heart rate monitor as a guide, an investment that Art says got him out the door more. Around 2007, at the age of 51, Art began to run more regularly and with more of a plan. The example of his wife was a good one, but it took a few more years for the competitive fires to be stoked. “No thanks,” he said, “I ran enough races in high school,” and went on with more easy loops around Central Park. In this case, his wife joined the NYRR, ran the NYC Marathon in 1999, and asked Art if he would like to compete again. In the meantime he and his wife Patricia had three children and Art built a career at Columbia as professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics.Ī pattern in Art’s biography is that he hangs out with the right people.

He would churn out 20 or 30 miles per week, going on feel more than any exercise schedule.

At Haverford College he did not compete in track or cross country, but was on the wrestling team.įrom college through his 40s, Art never stopped running, but did not feel the need to compete. I had been watching Art’s progression over 20, but after he ran, in a two-week span, 2:52:20 at the Philadelphia Marathon (85.5%) and then 29:19 for five miles in Central Park (87.5%), I decided to give Art a call to get some biography and tips to pass on to the rest of the team.Īrt had some wheels as a young man, running sub 4:40 for the mile for his Cleveland high school.

But by December he had become extraordinary: he had run the very best age graded masters performance of 2012 among all CPTC masters men in NYRR races over one mile. When 2012 began, 56-year-old Art Palmer was just one of the members of the famously strong CPTC 50-59.

Race monitor aer palmer