David Angell is a world champion.
In March, the 48-year-old runner earned the gold medal in the 45-49 age division of the World Masters Championships 10K in Gainesville, Florida.
David is no stranger to speed — or success. He’s been winning races for more than 30 years, first at Franklin County High School in the early 1990s, then at Roanoke College, and now as one of the top masters runners in the United States. He’s captured 19 national age group titles through USA Track and Field.
Still, the moment in Florida stands out.
“The gold medal from the World Championships is pretty hard to beat,” he said. “I’ll never be in the Olympics, so this is about as close as I could get. Standing on the podium with a gold medal around your neck and hearing the national anthem is pretty special.”
David competed in both the 3K and 10K events at the championships.
“I went to it in 2019 when it was in Poland, so I had an idea of what to expect. But it was different having it on U.S. soil for the first time,” he said.
He placed fifth in the 3K, but his focus was on the 10K just a few days later. “I thought it was probably my best shot at getting a medal. I never really expected it to be gold though,” he said. “Having that USA on your chest gives you a bit of an extra boost.”
In addition to winning the 45–49 age group, David placed ninth overall in a race that included runners as young as 35.
It’s been quite a year. Just last month, he added another national title, winning the USATF Masters 4-Mile National Championships in 20:42.
Though he lives just outside the New River Valley, David is no stranger to the local racing scene. He’s a familiar competitor at the front of local races and he competed with the Blacksburg Striders masters teams at the USATF cross country championships in Richmond in 2023 and 2024.
David, who lives in Blue Ridge with his wife, Allison, is soft-spoken about his running accomplishments. Keep reading to learn more about his training, recovery, goals, and why the marathon might be the one distance he’s happy to leave behind.
Get to know David Angell
Hometown: I was born in Roanoke, grew up in Boones Mill, and I now live in Botetourt.
Occupation: Software engineer
Running background? I started running in 1992 during my freshman year at Franklin County High School. I missed XC that year because I didn’t even know about it, but my friend Kevin Bowman convinced me to run track in the spring. By the time I graduated, I had won multiple district titles (which was then the Roanoke Valley District) and a title in the mile at the Northwest Region. I also set school records in the mile (4:25) and 5K (16:09), which were both finally broken just a few years ago. After high school, I ran all 4 years at Roanoke College, where I won 5 ODAC Conference Championships in XC and track.
You have run more than 80,000 miles! How have you managed to maintain such a high level of performance while managing injuries? Since I started running 33 years ago, I’ve basically never stopped for an extended period. I’m a bit afraid that if I ever stop, I’ll never get going again at the same level. It’s really just a matter of staying as consistent as possible. And of course, I’ve had injuries that have forced me to take some time off. But during those times, I was still doing something to stay active and fit. I guess a lot of it is just always having a goal to work towards. During some of the worst injuries, the best advice I can give is to never stop looking for an answer. If you don’t make any progress with one doctor or therapist, keep trying to find someone else who might have some different ideas and be able to help. You don’t have to just roll over and accept it when someone tells you that there’s no hope and you should hang the shoes up.
How has your training or mindset evolved since entering the Masters division?
I definitely have to pay more attention to recovery. And that also involves checking the ego at the door. The day after a really hard workout, there’s no shame in chugging along at a slow pace if that’s all you can muster. Sometimes it is hard to see the race times starting to slow down a bit, but you just have to remember that what you did last month, or last year, or 5 years ago doesn’t really matter anymore. It only matters what shape you’re in right now. So you can wallow in self-pity when you start to slow down with age, or you can adjust your goals and have new things to focus on and keep you motivated.
What do you think is the biggest misconception about masters running?
I think the biggest misconception is that Masters runners are just out there jogging around to have fun and don’t really care about being competitive anymore. That’s the farthest thing from the truth. I’ve been doing the USATF Masters circuit for over 8 years now, and the one thing I can tell you is those guys are super competitive. I’ve watched some 80-90 year olds dig deep into the well during races to beat the guys they’re competing against. Just because you’re slower at that age, doesn’t mean you don’t still have the desire to succeed.
What’s something you’ve learned from racing that carries into life outside of running?
I guess what I’ve learned from racing is to never give up, because you never know what might happen. I’ve had races where you think you’re beat, but then you catch someone or find out somebody dropped out or something else happened. At the Masters 5K Championships a few years ago, the top three guys took a wrong turn, and I inherited what I thought was the lead. I wasn’t sure until afterwards, but they ended up being disqualified and I was given the win. So even if you think you’re out of the game, keep pushing, because things can change in an instant
Can you describe your typical training week? I’ll generally hit about 55-70 miles a week. I often do hard workouts on Tuesday and Thursday and a long run on Saturday. But if I’m feeling beat up from the first workout, I’ll sometimes skip the second workout and do some type of harder stuff during my long run instead. I’ve never been too scientific, and honestly kind of make it up as I go. I’ll have a general idea based on the goal races that are coming up and what I need to focus on, but on a daily basis, it’s more just how I feel.
Proudest running moment? That might be when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame at Franklin County High School in 2021. I haven’t lived there for years, but I’ll always be an Eagle. That day was very special to me and felt like recognition for 30+ years of hard work, pain, and suffering all wrapped up into one great day.
Favorite race? That might be the Richmond 8K. I’ve run that race multiple times and have had some of my best races there. Whenever November rolls around, I somehow always find myself heading to Richmond. It’s flat. It’s fast. And that downhill finish lets you roll.
Roads or Trails? Ha ha. Definitely roads. You won’t find me on real trails. My idea of trails is either the New River Trail or the Hanging Rock Trail in Salem. Or a nice manicured field like Greenhill Park. It’s not that I don’t like being out in the woods. I used to run trails a lot. But these days I feel like I’m too fragile and not willing to risk an injury.
Most satisfying running accomplishment? Since I’ve been doing this for so long, that’s hard to narrow down. So I’m going to break the rules a bit and give you my top 5. From my college days, it would definitely be winning the ODAC XC Championship my senior year and leading Roanoke College to the team title. Those are special days you can’t forget. This gold medal from the World Championships is pretty hard to beat. … Also in there is winning my first overall Masters National Championship at the Shamrock 8K in 2017 and then finishing as top master at the Peachtree 10K in Atlanta in 2024 because of the size and history of that race. But one that might be a strong contender for the top is my 3rd place overall finish in the Masters race at the Club XC Championships in Spokane in 2018. That might sound odd since it wasn’t a win, unless you understand Club XC. It’s always the most competitive Masters race in the country every year. Guys who don’t travel to some of these other races always show up at Club XC with their teams. EVERYONE good comes. For perspective, the last few years I’ve struggled to break into the top 50. So to come away with a 3rd place finish in 2018 by beating a bunch of guys that I honestly had no business beating was nothing short of a miracle. I can almost guarantee at this point in my life that it will NEVER happen again. It was basically one of those perfect days where everything just clicked. So based on the guys I beat that day, I might consider it to be the most impressive performance of my career.
Hobbies beyond running? Hobbies beyond running? You’re joking right? To be honest, there really isn’t much else I do. That’s kind of just who I am now. I do enjoy watching college football and basketball, but I’m not sure I would really call that much of a hobby.
Favorite post-run recovery/reward meal? After a weekend long run, it’s Mickey Mouse waffles and scrambled eggs. But after a race, I love a nice juicy bacon cheeseburger. And if a race goes well, I’ll occasionally find myself at Dunkin Donuts for a Boston Cream (or 2) on my drive home.
Fact most people don’t know about you? When I was young, I broke both my arms at the same time. I was at Camp Bethel for the week and fell backwards out of a tree. I put both hands behind me as I was falling and they both snapped. It was a few days before they determined they were broken, but I eventually ended up with casts on both arms. That was an interesting summer. Luckily I wasn’t a runner yet, so it didn’t really interfere with any sort of training.
Running goals in the next few years? I turn 50 in about a year and a half. So once that happens, I have a few VA state road race age group records I’ve been eyeing. For the longer term, I’ve been competing in the USATF Masters Grand Prix series for quite a few years now. I might branch out and be a little picker about which races I travel to. But I would like to win the series at least once for every 5 year age group as I get older. I have wins in the 40-44 and 45-49 groups. So I just have to try and keep that going. Also in the long term, you mentioned how I’ve run 80,000 lifetime miles. Obviously on my mind is making it to 100,000. Hopefully my body will hold together that long.
Favorite workout? Favorite track workout is a ladder where you do 5K worth of work in the order of 1600, 1200, 1000, 600, 400, 200. I generally do half the distance rest in between. So after the 1600, I take 800 rest, after the 1200, I take 600 rest, and so on. We call it the 5K predictor workout because when you’re done you can add up your times for all the intervals and get an estimate of what you could run for 5K at the current moment. Over the years of doing it, I’ve found you can typically run within about 15-20 seconds of what you ran for the workout. So if you ran 15:30 for the combined times in the predictor workout, you might be in 15:45-15:50 shape. It’s always a fun workout that I’ll probably do a few times a year.
Anything I should have asked you about but didn’t? Why don’t I run marathons? Because they’re hard. And horrible. I have done 3 (Philly, Boston, and Richmond) but none of them went well by my standards. I suffered from hamstring cramps every single time. It’s very discouraging to be on pace for a goal time and then lose 10 minutes in the last mile after being forced to walk because of cramps. And afterwards, they really messed me up. I spent months injured and wasn’t having any fun. I kind of decided they weren’t for me, and I’m okay with that. I’d much rather have my lungs burning at shorter races than have my legs be non-functional. My last attempt was in 2011, and I’m not sure whether I’ll ever do another one. But to be honest, I think that’s part of why I’m still running fast as an older guy. Because I didn’t trash my legs doing 2-3 marathons per year. It’s an acceptable trade-off to me.
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