New research suggesting many British runners abandon the sport decades earlier, but sport brand Altra aim to turn things around and hope their newly-assembled team will provide inspiration

While most runners might reach for a protein shake after a race, Peter Giles prefers a more unusual combination: coffee and a cigar.

The former carpenter and bass guitarist, who took up competitive running in his mid-forties, won five gold medals at the World Masters Athletics Championships in Sweden last year. Now 82 he is part of Britain’s oldest running team, launched by sports brand Altra, who have a combined age of 321.

Giles, who broke the British 5km road record for his age group in December, finishing in 22 minutes and 29 seconds, keeps his training relatively simple. He runs around 30 miles a week, avoids the gym and takes only vitamin D supplements. After a race, he celebrates with his customary coffee and cigar.

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“Most runners overtrain and over-complicate everything. The older I get, the simpler it all becomes,” he said.

Giles appears to be bucking a wider trend, with new research suggesting many British runners abandon the sport decades earlier.

Around seven million people took to the streets of England to run last year, yet research commissioned by running brand Altra found the average British runner gives up the sport at the age of 39. According to the research, one in three runners who quit do so because of injury.

More than half of those surveyed said they had suffered a setback serious enough to stop them running for three months or longer, while one in six of that group said they had never fully recovered. Nearly a quarter said life simply got in the way.

Altra formed Britain’s oldest running team to inspire the next generation of runners to adopt good running habits to enable them to go the distance.

Alongside Giles is 79-year-old Rajinder Singh MBE, who has completed marathons around the world and is recognised as one of the oldest runners in the Sikh community.

The team also includes Laurence Cummings, 85, who holds 204 age-category parkrun records across England and Scotland, and Pritpal Kaur, 75, the oldest British Asian woman to complete this year’s London Marathon.