At an age when many people are slowing down, runner Carmen Troncoso is setting records.
"You never know when you're old, older, you could be on and two laps to go, [and] you crash," Troncoso said.
At 50 years young, she just set an American record in the 3,000-meter run for her age group at the Portland Track Festival, finishing in 10:10, 9 seconds faster than the previous record.
"It just turned out like the perfect race for me,” Troncoso said. “It was just perfect. I was going every lap saying, 'OK, this is great,' and I felt great the whole way."
It felt great until she saw her husband and told him her winning time was 10:10.
"He goes, 'Oh, the world record was 10:08.8,'” Troncoso said. “ I said, 'I don't want to hear that right now.'"
Troncoso also owns the American record in the 3,000 for 40-year-olds. What's most amazing about her new record is that a couple of years ago, she was not running at all. A nagging foot injury had forced her to quit racing.
"At that point, I really didn't think I was going to race. I didn't think I'd get back to where I was," Troncoso said.
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Breaking Records
News 8's Ricky Doyle introduces viewers to one local runner is breaking records at age 50.
 
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She turned to biking until her foot finally started feeling better and she felt she could run in the local races.
That went well and she was ready to start setting records again. Now, she said she's hungry for more and wants to set the record in the 5,000 meters next.
"This time, I'm not taking anything for granted. If I break it by one-tenth of a second, it's going to be the best thing ever. That's how I'm approaching everything now," Troncoso said.
She’ll take it one step at a time, and the next step is overseas.
