At 82, Juan L\u00f3pez Garc\u00eda is doing something many people half his age would struggle to finish. The retired Spanish mechanic from Toledo runs marathons and ultramarathons, even though he did not begin running until age 66.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His pre-run breakfast sounds almost ordinary. It includes toast, olive oil, fresh cheese, honey, coffee, and a spoonful of bee pollen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The science points away from any miracle ingredient, however, and toward a more demanding explanation involving years of training, unusual oxygen use, and remarkable consistency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For most of his working life, L\u00f3pez Garc\u00eda repaired cars and left sports in the background. After retiring, he walked roughly 500 miles of the Camino de Santiago in 20 days, then started running after encouragement from one of his daughters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He entered competition at 70 and kept moving into longer events. At the 2024 World Masters Marathon Championship in Bucharest, he won the 80-plus category with a time of 3 hours, 39 minutes, and 10 seconds, while also setting a European record.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In May 2025, at age 81, he completed a 31-mile race in about 4 hours and 48 minutes. That performance cut roughly 49 minutes from the previous age-group world record. Not bad for someone who once planned only to \u201crun a little to stay in shape.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senior author Simone Porcelli<\/a> of the University of Pavia worked with Juli\u00e1n Alc\u00e1zar and the GENUD Toledo group at the University of Castilla-La Mancha to study the runner. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The team tested him on a treadmill and stationary bike, scanned his body composition, and measured how oxygen moved from his lungs and blood into working muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The headline result was his VO2<\/sub> max<\/a>, a measure of how much oxygen the body can use during very hard exercise. His score reached 52.8, which the researchers described as the highest reported in a person in their 80s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Compared with U.S. reference standards for the same test, it sat in a range seen in healthy men ages 20 to 30.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At 5\u20192\u201d and about 130 lbs., he also had nearly 77% lean mass. More importantly, his muscles were exceptionally good at extracting and using oxygen, while his ability to burn fat during hard exercise resembled that of much younger athletes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n His running economy<\/a> was good but not extraordinary, suggesting an exceptional engine even though every part of the vehicle was not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Before training, L\u00f3pez Garc\u00eda says he eats a slice of toast topped with olive oil, fresh ricotta-style cheese, and honey. He also drinks a large coffee with milk and honey, a simple meal that would not look out of place on many breakfast tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Then comes the unusual part. \u201cI put a spoonful of pollen in my mouth and then eat breakfast,\u201d he said, adding that he sometimes has a tangerine or banana. He says he has kept the bee pollen habit<\/a> for about four decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBreakfast before the miles<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read More: At 82 he keeps getting faster despite taking up running only after retiring: the strange breakfast this Spanish marathoner swears by every day<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n