About Chris Armen

Growing up outside of Boston, Dad used to take us to see the Marathon back when there were just a few hundred runners. It was possible to see the start, the finish and a couple of spots along the way. I started running when I was eleven, tagging along (rather far) behind my older brother and his high-school cross-country teammates. I ran road races during high school, and after a five-year gap in my early 20’s, I started running again, racing 5k-1/2M.

In grad school in my late 30s I discovered that I’m better at shorter races. In my mid-40’s I ran the best races of my life on the track. And then for contrast, I ran two marathons when I turned 50, a BQ and a Boston.

In my late fifties I began a five-year focus on cycling, with an emphasis on climbing. There’s a race series in the Northeast that includes Mt. Washington, Greylock, Ascutney, Okemo, etc. I managed to place on the podium for my age group in quite a few of those races, as well as for the series. I’ve also had some memorable non-race climbs, such as Pikes’ Peak, Mt. Ventoux, and many mountains in the Rockies, French Alps and the Dolomites in Italy.

I’ve been fortunate to work with several excellent coaches, both in running and cycling, and I learned a great deal from the wide variety of their approaches. I have always enjoyed discussing training and racing with fellow runners as well as with coaches, and when self-coached I’ve enjoyed both roles equally well.

“PRs:
800m 2:08 (age 44),
1500m 4:30 (age 43),
mile 4:52 (age 44),
5k 17:35 (age 35),
10k 36:05 (age 27),
1/2M 1:23:40 (age 28),
marathon 3:32:43 (age 50).”