Comparte este contenido June 29, 2026

Passion Knows No Age: The Legacy of Plus Runners at the mmB

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In the running world, there is a quiet prejudice that associates speed with youth and maturity with slowness. The Bogotá Half Marathon has spent years disproving this narrative with concrete and undeniable data. Plus and Veteran runners are not background participants who simply complete the race-day scenery. They are its backbone, its engine of continuity, and in many cases, its fastest athletes.

Who Are the Plus and Veteran Runners at the mmB?

The mmB categorizes its older participants into two main groups within the 21K distance: Veterans, which includes runners from a certain intermediate age onward, and Plus runners, which consists of athletes over the age of 50. Together, they make up the Senior segment, a community that in 2025 represented more than 36% of all participants in the premier distance of the race.

This figure is significant. It means that more than one out of every three runners who complete the mmB 21K belongs to a category that popular culture might consider "too old to compete." The numbers tell a completely different story.

Participation That Endures: The Loyalty of the Senior Segment

Analyzing the evolution of Senior participation in the mmB reveals something that goes beyond sports statistics: a deeply loyal relationship with the race.

In 2024, the total number of Senior runners registered for the 21K was 7,822, representing 37.85% of all participants. In 2025, that figure grew to 8,413 participants, equivalent to 36.55% of the total field. The absolute increase is significant: 591 additional Senior runners in a single year.

Within this segment, the category-specific data reveals important details:

In the Veteran category, participation increased from 4,786 registered runners in 2024 to 5,302 in 2025, reinforcing its position as the largest demographic category within the Senior segment. Meanwhile, Plus runners grew from 3,036 registered participants in 2024 to 3,111 in 2025, remaining comfortably above the 3,000-runner threshold in the race’s most demanding distance.

This figure deserves some context: although the 2025 total represents a decline from the historic peak of 4,072 Plus runners recorded in 2023, maintaining participation above 3,000 athletes in the 21K speaks to a loyal base that continues to support the race regardless of fluctuations in the broader running market.

The Statistic That Changes Everything: Veterans Faster Than the Open Category

If there is one finding in the mmB data that deserves widespread attention, it is this: for the second consecutive year, Male Veteran runners recorded faster average times than the Male Open category in the 21K.

In 2025, the average finishing time in the Male Veteran category was 2:20:58, while the Male Open category posted an average of 2:22:19. In 2024, the difference was equally clear: 2:17:30 for Veterans compared to 2:19:30 for the Open category.

The Male Plus category, made up of the oldest runners within the segment, recorded an average time of 2:27:56 in 2025, a figure that reflects the level of preparation and discipline that characterizes these athletes.

These numbers completely dismantle the stereotype of the older runner as a slower participant who simply aims to finish the race. Athletic maturity—understood as the accumulation of years of training, effort management, and knowledge of one’s own body—produces technically more efficient runners, not slower ones.

The Female Dimension: Exceptional Performance and Enormous Potential

The participation data for women in the Senior 21K categories reveals a fascinating duality: a significant numerical gap coexists with remarkably consistent performance.

In 2025, within the Plus category of the 21K, there were 2,552 men registered compared to 559 women. The disparity in participation volume is evident. However, the average finishing times tell a different story: both the Female Veteran and Female Plus categories recorded exactly the same average time of 2:41:52, demonstrating that Senior female runners achieve a level of efficiency that remains stable regardless of the age group to which they belong.

This phenomenon becomes even more significant when examining female participation in the mmB 10K distance, where women represent 52.44% of all participants. There is a massive base of female runners with discipline, consistency, and fitness who currently compete in the 10K and who represent the greatest growth potential for the Senior categories in the 21K.

Why the Senior Segment Is Strategically Crucial to the mmB

Beyond the individual performance figures, the Senior segment fulfills a structural role within the mmB that no other category can replicate.

With more than 36% of total 21K participation in 2025, Plus and Veteran runners form the demographic backbone of the event. Their year-after-year loyalty provides a stable participation base that absorbs fluctuations in other segments. Their competitive performances raise the overall technical standard of the race. Their presence inspires runners of all ages to view running as a lifelong pursuit.

This last role may be the most valuable of all. Seeing a 55- or 65-year-old runner complete the 21K with a time faster than the average in the Open category sends a powerful message to any runner who wonders whether it is still worth training as the years go by.

The mmB as a Stage Where Age Becomes an Advantage

Historical data from 2019 to 2025 shows that from the starting point recorded six years ago, when approximately 7,729 Senior runners were counted in the 21K, the segment has not only maintained its volume but has grown to exceed 8,400 participants in the most recent edition.

This trajectory confirms that the mmB has built a community of mature athletes who understand running not as a temporary activity but as a lifelong practice. For them, the race has no expiration date. And their results demonstrate that performance has no ceiling either.

The athletic maturity accumulated by Plus and Veteran runners through decades of training translates into superior effort management, more refined tactical discipline, and an ability to maintain consistent performance—qualities that mmB data confirms year after year.

Register for the 2026 Bogotá Half Marathon and become part of a race where experience is not an obstacle but an advantage, and where the numbers prove that the passion for running has no age limit.