They say good things come to those who wait. On his estimated 17th try at the marathon distance, 54-year-old Doug Fernandez broke the finish tape for the first time Sunday, winning the Harrisburg Marathon in 2:40:23. The Richmond, Virginia resident pulled away from Juan Martinez, 36, in the final miles to secure his first win.

Fernandez told Runner's World Newswire that he believes age is more mental than physical, and people overemphasize it. “That’s the problem when you are old," said Fernandez. "People focus more on your age than on your accomplishments.”

“When I run, I never try to beat anyone in my age group, I try to beat everybody. I think I am just a 25-year-old wolf,” he continued.

Because Fernandez mostly runs bigger marathons, he acknowledges that winning his age group usually the best he can hope for. “I’m not going to beat the Kenyans,” he said.

Heading into Sunday’s race, however, Fernandez had researched the past winning times and knew that winning was within the realm of possibility.

“You never know. It’s all about who shows up,” he said. “I figured if I ran 2:40, if I didn’t win it, maybe I’d be in the top five at least. “

In highly competitive marathons, Fernandez has had success as an age-group competitor. At the 2014 Boston Marathon, he finished second in the 50-54 age group by two seconds, running a “post-45-year-old PR” of 2:34:43. He was closing on his competitor at the end, and thinks he could have passed him, if he had known he was that close.

Six weeks before his victory in Harrisburg, Fernandez won his age group at the Berlin Marathon in 2:37:04. In 2015, Fernandez hopes to win his age group at the Boston Marathon, Berlin Marathon, and New York City Marathon, even though Berlin and New York are separated by only five weeks. He’s run four marathons in 2014, proving his ability to bounce back quickly. For the latter two races, Fernandez will be in the 55-59 age group, which he says makes a significant difference.

Fernandez was born in Venezuela but came to the United States to attend the University of Southern Colorado (now known as Colorado State University-Pueblo). He ran track there, and says he ran a best of 1:49 for 800 meters. After college, however, he joined the Army and stopped running competitively. “I wasn’t trying to be a fast runner. I was just trying to stay fit enough to pass the PT test,” said Fernandez, who became a U.S. citizen in 1994.

At age 45, after taking about 20 years off and weighing in at 245 pounds, Fernandez decided to take up running again, with the hope of losing weight. He started slowly, but as he put in the miles and shed the weight, his competitiveness returned. In 2007, at age 47, he ran a 3:08:43 marathon, and he’s continued to improve since then.

He now weighs in around 180 pounds, and runs around 100 miles a week at the peak of his training. He is self-coached and does most of his training on his own. By day, he works in research and development for Philip Morris.

“The key is not to put age barriers in your mind, and you’ll do so much better,” said Fernandez. “People get old, prematurely, in their minds. You’ve always got to think that you’re young.”

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