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The New York City Marathon course has been a second home for professional marathoner Abdi Abdirahman. The 45-year-old U.S. athlete has run the historic race eight times, even completing his marathon debut through the five boroughs in 2004. His top finish came in 2016, where he crossed the line in third place at the age of 39.
“New York is a big part of my career,” Abdirahman told Runner’s World. “It fits my running style—the hills, the bridges. I’m so excited to come back this year and do it all over again.”
His ninth New York City Marathon, set for November 6, is likely his last; the ‘Black Cactus,’ as he is affectionately known in running circles, is starting his professional running farewell tour. But that farewell tour is more than just a handful of dates on the calendar—it’s a three-year journey propelled by a recent sponsorship deal with Asics.
“I still have that spirit of being an athlete,” Abdirahman said. "When I step on the line, I want to beat as many people as I can. I still believe I have a lot left in the tank.”
If Abdirahman decides to retire at the end of his Asics contract, he’ll be 48 years old. When he qualified for his fifth Olympic team in 2020 as a 43-year-old, he became the oldest runner in history to qualify. Can he break that record again at the 2024 Olympic Trials?
While there are no guarantees, Abdirahman has been a staple every Olympic team since 2000 (with the exception of 2016, when he was sidelined by injuries). How has he consistently succeeded over two decades, continually defying expectations for his age?
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Don’t let age define you; let experience guide you
When asked if his mentality has changed as he aged, Abdirahman replied that “the only thing that changes is the number.” He still trains at a high level, but he plays it a little smarter now.
In the first decade of his career, Abidrahman was able to pile on hard workouts, sometimes clocking four sessions a week. But because he now has over 20 years of training in his legs, he no longer has to force the high-quality work—he just needs to sharpen up before races.
“Running is like building a house. If you build a house without a foundation, the house will never last, it will just break down. I built that foundation from running all those years, from my 20s to my late 30s to now my 40s,” Abdirahman said.
Therefore, whenever he feels the nag of a potential injury, he takes a few days off instead of running through it.
“Do I want to take two or three days off, or do I want to face two to three months of sideline?” he said. “I will take the two or three days.”
New technology can lengthen your running career
Technology improvements over the last couple decades certainly haven’t hurt Abdirahman’s longevity. He remembered that, in his younger days, the only recovery tools were massages and ice baths. Now, he supplements those treatments with NormaTech compression boots and percussion therapy guns to ease sore legs. Instead of the scientifically engineered Maurten drinks and gels for mid-race fuel, he recalled drinking CytoMax, a since-discontinued electrolyte drink mix made by the company who created Muscle Milk.
One of the biggest improvements that’s also surrounded by the most debate, is super shoes. Abdirahman didn’t mince words: “Before the super shoes, there were only flat racers. You run a marathon, and you wouldn’t be able to walk for four or five days.”
After one New York City Marathon in the pre-super shoe era, Adbirahman was in such discomfort that he couldn’t even walk to his hotel lobby to get food. Since the introduction of super shoes, Abdirahman’s post-race experience is completely different: “In the afternoon, I’m going to parties and dancing. I don't even feel like I ran a marathon.”
Love what you do
After Abdirahman completed his first 26.2-mile race at the 2004 New York City Marathon, he told himself he’d never run another one. He had some difficulties in his buildup and pushed through injuries to get to the starting line.
As a result, the race didn’t go as smoothly as expected: “I never experienced that pain before.” He still ran a respectable 2:17:09 for fourteenth place, which foretold a bright future at the distance.
Abdirahman has grown to love the distance after 18 years and dozens of races: “There’s that saying, ‘find something you love, and you never work a day in your life.’ I love running and I’m still passionate about it.”
Be inspired by others
Abdirahman believes in himself, but also stressed that surrounding himself with others who believe in him is just as important. For instance, when he missed the 2016 Olympic Trials due to injury, he could have retired then and there and still had a successful career. But his coach, friends, and family pushed him to continue.
“If I was someone else, I could have retired a long time ago… the people who knew me knew what I was capable of,” he said.
Abdirahman also gets inspired by the everyday running enthusiast. Elite marathoners focus on running as hard as they can for five to 10 years then move on, he says. “But those people who run three hours? They train [hard] and still have another 40- or 50 hours of a job. That’s inspiring for me as a person and as an athlete.”
So what’s left to accomplish?
After crossing the finish line in Central Park for the final time, a place that’s provided him many memorable races (such as finishing second to distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie at the 2007 NYC Half), Abdirahman still has much he wants to accomplish. Mainly, he wants to run all six of the World Marathon Majors. So far, he’s only run Boston, Chicago, and New York City, so he has Berlin, London, and Tokyo to go.
With a new sponsor behind him and a few more years ahead of him, Abdirahman isn’t worried about detractors calling him too old to compete well at major races. After all, he finished 44th in the world at last year’s Olympics, while most of his younger U.S. competitors have yet to make a single international team. And even though he’s excited about young U.S. talent moving to the marathon—many of whom were in elementary school when he made his first Olympic team in 2000—he’s not content to be a past-tense U.S. distance running legend quite yet.
“In my career, I have faced challenges, injuries, and setbacks. People started calling me old in my early 30s,” he said. “So the one thing that keeps me motivated, keeps me coming back and still competing at a high level, is the belief in myself that I can still do it.”
Chris Hatler is a writer and editor based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but before joining Runner’s World and Bicycling, he was a pro runner for Diadora, qualifying for multiple U.S. Championships in the 1500 meters. At his alma mater the University of Pennsylvania, Chris was a multiple-time Ivy League conference champion and sub-4 minute miler.
