At 62, Clare Elms Becomes Oldest Woman to Run a Sub-5 Minute 1500m

The British masters runner shaved 0.08 seconds off her own world W60 record at a Wimbledon meet on Wednesday, finishing in 4:56.77 despite a stiff easterly wind.

Last Updated: May 31, 2026 4:36 pm

Jessy Carveth

Jessy Carveth

Jessy is our Senior News Editor, pro cyclist and former track and field athlete with a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology.

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Clare Elms is 62 years old. On Wednesday night she ran 1,500 metres faster than most club runners half her age, and faster than any woman in her 60s has ever managed.

Elms clocked 4:56.77 at the Hercules Wimbledon 1500m PB meeting on May 27, trimming 0.08 seconds off the world W60 record she set last year, Athletics Weekly reported. She is now the oldest woman known to have broken five minutes for the distance.

Wearing race number 62, fitting for her age, Elms lined up against ten runners in the third heat of the night. According to Athletics Weekly, eight of them were young enough to be her grandchildren.

At 62, Clare Elms Becomes Oldest Woman to Run a Sub-5 Minute 1500m 1

A Tough Night for Fast Times

The conditions were not kind. After a heat wave the day before, the weather had turned cool and blustery, with gusts of more than 20 mph blowing in from the east. The wind hit hard down the home straight.

Elms sat at the back of the field for the first two laps and had to run wide, struggling to find a clear lane. She was behind her target pace at the bell. On the last lap she worked her way past about half the field, then felt herself slow into the headwind on the run-in.

She kept her form and crossed the line under five minutes anyway.

At 62, Clare Elms Becomes Oldest Woman to Run a Sub-5 Minute 1500m 2

A Long Record of Consistency

Elms is Britain’s most decorated masters record setter at 1500m and the mile. She first set a world W55 record in 2019, clocking 4:46.64. Then came a serious bout of Covid and a stretch with few races, which slowed her briefly but not for long.

Her outdoor 1500m times since then, as listed by Athletics Weekly, tell the story of a runner who has refused to fall off the pace expected by age-related decline:

2019 (age 55): 4:46.64
2020 (56): 4:58.23
2021 (57): 4:58.45
2022 (58): 4:58.34
2023 (59): 4:57.10
2024 (60): 4:57.14
2025 (61): 4:56.85
2026 (62): 4:56.77

Each of the last four marks was a world age-group best at the time it was run. Elms now holds 16 different UK 1500m or mile records across the W45 to W60 age groups, indoors, outdoors and on the road. To put that in perspective, you can check what her times look like against the average runner using our age-grade calculator.

She has already had a strong spring on the longer stuff, with world bests of 17:45 for 5km and 29:53 for 5 miles. Athletics Weekly reports she expects to run faster over 1500m later in the season if she can get a calmer night and a cleaner race.

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