Aidan Puffer at 13 is a 5K world record holder twice over, breaking his own record at the Boston Athletic Association 5K for his age group on April 14, according to the Hartford Courant.
Puffer, who started running with his dad three years ago, set the world 5K record for 13-year-olds last year with a time of 16:11 during the Downtown 5K in Providence, Rhode Island, the newspaper said.
On April 14, two days before the Boston Marathon, he did himself one better, easily beating his old record with a time of 15:47 over the 3.1-mile course at the BAA 5K, the Hartford Courant said.
"It was really incredible," said Puffer, whose parents described the racer as "humble," according to the newspaper.
"He's a little shy," Martha Puffer, his mother, told the Courant. "He loves the opportunity to be able to meet these professional athletes and Olympians because of [his running]. It's kind of opening some doors for him. He enjoys that. I don't think he really knows what to say when people gush over him."
Runner's World magazine noted that the Manchester, Connecticut, eighth-grader finished 43rd overall against seasoned, older runners with a per mile pace of 5:05.
Puffer usually runs about 40 miles a week over six days and one day for cross training, Runner's World said. The 13-year-old told the magazine that he enjoys the races.
"The pressure is all in my head," Puffer told Runner's World. "I'm pretty self-motivated. I'm not really worried about what other people think."
Kyle Puffer, Aidan's father who started a "Couch to 5K" program three years ago, which got his son interested in racing, said people around the world are taking notice of his son's exploits, the Courant wrote.
"We're finding articles in different languages [about him] and stuff," Kyle Puffer told the Courant. "One said he's from Manchester, England, and he's got a PR of 4:18 in the 1,500, which he doesn't."
His father said that Aidan plans to run cross country and track when he gets to Manchester High School next year, but he is already thinking about college and those possibilities, the Courant reported.
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